coverage about Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Co., Ltd
shows remarkable details about the discreet operations of North
Korean agencies. Beside the role of Hong Kong one must come to the
conclusion to look deeper into the business networks in Dandong in
China, near to the North Korean border. This is definitely one of the
places where North Korean procurement agents and traders are active.
a place where Muslims, living in North Korea, can buy halal meat –
as a Twitter user explains, showing this picture:
business of Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Co., Ltd was
more focused on the non-muslim parts of the North Korean society,
especially the Kim clan and his network of loyal agencies. Comparing
two adresses in Dandong it seems that both participants of this
special business didn’t have a long distance to walk when it comes to
chatting about money and deals. The following shows the official contact adress of Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Co., Ltd:
Another Chinese investor in North Korea, Wang Yuangang, CEO of China-North Korea Border Trade City, started out in business in the 1980s making garments in Dandong for the domestic market. In 1999, he opened a street market with stalls for vendors to sell items to North Koreans right on the Chinese side of the bridge crossing the Yalu river. The city razed the market for a street improvement a few years later. In 2002, Mr. Wang set up a barter-trade market in Pyongyang and worked closely with Yang Bin, the Dutch-Chinese businessman who was named head of the Siniuju Special Administrative Region but was subsequently arrested and jailed by Chinese authorities for tax evasion before he could take up the post. At that time, most trade was by barter and the market was ultimately unsuccessful because of policy restrictions in North Korea.
A rotary encoder may not be necessary for a nuclear fuel cycle, but this is something only experts can evaluate. Even the other products look somehow suspicious – for an ordinary person like me:
In 2012 the US Director of National Intelligence
(DNI) published a report, titled: “North Korea – Characeristics of Joint
Ventures With Foreign Partners, 2004 – 2011”. In this report they are listed as well:
The funny thing is, that this report already speaks about “Sino – DPRK” and not “Sino – Korean” – but means the same company. On many pages similar collaborations are listed and Dandong is certainly one of the main regions:
The North Korean partner produces vehicles which reminds me on some old East Bloc movies:
Anyway: Coming back to Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Co., Ltd: For observers of the North Korean system and their efforts to generate profits this company was not so under the radar as some people argue today. Already in 2010 the former “DPRK Business Monthly” (Volume 1, Number 2, March 2010) wrote about a bridge, linking Dandong with Sinuiju:
Ma Xiaohong, director of the Dandong Hongxiang Development Co. Ltd, a leading Sino-DPRK trade company, welcomed the project. “Currently, we have a long waiting time to cross the old bridge,” she told the China Daily. “The new bridge will greatly increase trade volume and improve transportation.”
