China shuts down part of Dandong-Sinuiju bridge [UPDATE: Delayed]

UPDATE 1 (2016-8-23): Whether true or not, the Daily NK now reports that the bridge closing has been delayed. According to the article:

Necessary repair work on the North Korean side of the bridge connecting the country with China over the Amrok (Yalu) River has been delayed following a last-minute plea by the North Korean authorities, Daily NK has learned.

A source in North Pyongan Province close to the issue told Daily NK on August 22 that Pyongyang cited pressing foreign-currency shortages in its request to the Chinese authorities to put off the month-long maintenance period, scheduled to commence on August 20.

“The Chinese Railway Ministry warned of ‘imminent and severe accidents’ if the bridge [on the North Korean side] remains in its current state of disrepair, ” the source said, “but the North Korean side refused to give in [and begin the repairs] and so customs is still operating normally.”

It is not yet known when the repair work will get underway. “Trading companies were told to operate normally, and affiliated vehicles are increasingly ignoring imposed freight loads limits in a bid to transport the greatest volume of goods possible, the source said.

According to a source close to the issue in China, notwithstanding the maintenance delay, China will continue to exert pressure on North Korea to carry out the repairs on its end. As such, trading companies are overloading vehicles with goods to hedge against the economic losses expected during the repair period.

“Trading companies interpret the ambiguous start date for repairs as an ominous sign. They know that the ax could drop at any time, and that obviously makes it difficult to plan. This notion has ushered in a flurry of trade activity, which in turn evokes a very different environment to the restrictive one palpable following the sanctions implementation,” the North Pyongan-based source concluded.

ORIGINAL POST (2016-8-17): by Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein

A small reminder that border traffic flows can be impacted by other factors than sanctions and policies:

On the heels of a fleeting reopening, China has suspended road traffic and customs operations on the Sino-North Korean Friendship Bridge until critical risks are mitigated on the North Korean side. The move will greatly challenge North Korea’s foreign-currency operations, which lean heavily on Sino-North Korean trade, 70 percent of which flows through the connecting overpass.

“China ordered the repairs after discovering additional risk factors on the North’s side despite the construction work carried out from July to earlier this month,” a source from North Pyongan Province said, adding that construction will begin August 20.
“China’s railway officials detected these dangers, and, in no uncertain terms, demanded the cessation of vehicular transport and the commencement of large-scale restorations.”
This news was corroborated by additional sources in North Pyongan Province.
Saddled with rigid foreign-currency quotas, this is most distressing for North Korean trading companies, she added. And with the prohibitive costs involved in sea transport, these entities are left with little in the way of viable transport alternatives; the railway connection adjacent to the road will remain operational for the duration of the repairs but only for small loads.
The looming trouble Pyongyang faces is, in many respects, self-inflicted– the culmination of securing leadership funds at the expense of vital safety regulations. The recent decision to haphazardly patch over problem areas, rather than administering thorough repairs, despite compelling precedent, being a case in point.
When a truck overturned last year, weight limitations were introduced but remain rarely enforced, particularly for mineral-laden trucks, the most frequently overloaded vehicles.
“Overloading is of little concern the North Korean leadership,” the source asserted. “Their focus is solely on securing enough money, and because they don’t bat an eye about violating customs regulations, trade companies load on as much as they can.”
By unilaterally calling for a traffic block on the bridge, China may be hoping to wrangle North Korea into finally upholding its end of a mutually-beneficial deal sitting just downstream. China invested 340 mil. USD for the new bridge, completed in 2014, but North Korea has yet to build the necessary connecting infrastructure on its side.
Full article:
China shuts down road traffic on Sino-NK bridge
Seol Song Ah
Daily NK
2016-08-17
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