This is the second of two articles exploring the North Korean goods available for sale in Yanbian. You can read part one here.

In his store in a quiet side street a short distance from Hunchun’s main commercial district, Mr. Kou leans on one of his large freezers in a leisurely manner, his shirt rolled up to his chest in a traditional northern Chinese practice for keeping cool in the summer. It is morning, a quiet time of day for traders of North Korean seafood, and so he has time to chat.