North Korea may soon open a large COVID-19 disinfection zone near its border with China to resume cross-border trade via rail, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) claimed Thursday, as NK Pro analysis of satellite imagery shows fresh activity at the zone.

Planet Labs satellite imagery from October shows an increase in activity at the site near the large border city of Sinuiju, though it is unclear if the movement of vehicles and materials around the sprawling zone means it’s already taking shipments from China or still preparing for opening.

The NIS reportedly said in a closed-door briefing with South Korean lawmakers that Pyongyang has been “in consultations” with China over plans to “launch rail freight trade from Dandong … possibly in November,” according to lawmaker Hae Tae-keung.  

IMPORT ZONE ACTIVITY

According to recent satellite imagery over the Dandong-Sinuiju border area, activity ramped up at the Uiju Airport rail freight import disinfection zone at the beginning of this month. 

The above images show what appear to be vehicles coming and going each day starting in mid-October from a 100-meter-long (330 feet) warehouse and other buildings inside the zone, as well as the possible buildup and removal of materials outside two other identical warehouses. 

There were also fresh movements at some of the five train stations adjacent to the warehouses in the zone, which may indicate that trains are arriving with imports from China or building materials from elsewhere inside North Korea. Due to the resolution of available imagery, it is difficult to determine the true nature of the apparent activity.

Meanwhile, there continues to be frequent rail activity at both the Dandong and Sinuiju border train stations, but there are no solid indications yet that any trains have crossed the border recently.

The disinfection center and new railway sections on the line connected to China were built rapidly from Feb. to April 2021 at the Uiju Airport near Sinuiju. The airport then appeared to become inactive before small-scale construction resumed in July.

North Korea shut its borders to most trade in early 2020 at the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic and passed a new law earlier this year to address fears over the virus being carried into the country on imported goods. 

Chinese trade data indicates that bilateral trade has rebounded slightly in recent months, and satellite imagery shows that seaports in Nampho have grown busier. 

China is expected to release trade data for the month of October around Nov. 18-20, which may offer further clues about whether the Dandong-Sinuiju freight train route has reopened. 

Edited by Arius Derr