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P 240403Z APR 09
FM AMCONSUL SHENYANG
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INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHVK/AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 0723
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC 0178
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 SHENYANG 000076 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/CM, EAP/K, INR 
MOSCOW PASS TO VLADIVOSTOK 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: TEN YEARS AFTER KOREAN UNIFICATION 
TAGS: CH ECON KN KS PGOV PREL RS
SUBJECT: PRC-DPRK BORDER: CHINESE TENSE, NORTH KOREANS BUSY 
 
REF: SHENYANG 56 
 
Classified By: Consul General Stephen B. Wickman.  Reasons 1.4(b/d). 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: In light of the DPRK's detainment of two 
American journalists, Chinese officials have taken measures 
to tighten access by foreigners to border areas.  Even areas 
previously open to tourists and foreigners are now 
restricted.  Meetings with government, Public Security 
Bureau (PSB), and Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) officials all 
stressed the same theme: the border is sensitive and if you 
do come, please don't tell the provincial FAO.  Meanwhile, 
the 60th anniversary of PRC-DPRK diplomatic relations is 
being commemorated all along the border regions by local 
officials; there seem to be more farmers and livestock 
active on the DPRK side than in recent memory, and there has 
been no noticeable change in cross-border trade since the 
DPRK missile launch.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) Congenoff and assistant visited the Yanbian Korean 
Autonomous Prefecture April 12-15 and Dandong on April 8 to 
record developments along the North Korean border.  Sites 
observed included Fangchuan/Tumangang, Quanhe/Wonjong-ri, 
Khunchun Land Port, Shuaiwanzijiao/Samanjagyo, 
Tumen/Namyang, Kaishantun/Sambong, Bangwon-ri, Hakpo-ri, and 
Sanhe/Hoeryong.  Congenoff also met with officials from 
Hunchun and Changchun. 
 
CHINESE SIDE: HEIGHTENED SENSITIVITIES... 
----------------------------------------- 
¶3. (C) At every single point along the border, it was clear 
that the Chinese authorities had tightened their regulations 
and enforcement in response to the Amcit journalist 
incident.  Normal access to designated tourist areas was 
impeded by freshly painted "off-limits" signs and brand-new 
"no trespassing" banners.  People's Liberation Army Armed 
Police (PAP) guards are now wearing helmets and bulletproof 
vests at every land port, refusing access to sites 
previously accessible. 
 
¶4. (C) FANGCHUAN/TUMANGGANG: Fangchuan is one of Hunchun 
City's only tourist traps, giving curious visitors an 
opportunity to visit a military border compound overlooking 
the point where China, Russia, and North Korea meet in the 
lower reaches of the Tumen River, with the Sea of Japan 
visible beyond the Russia-DPRK rail bridge.  However, the 
People's Liberation Army (PLA) appropriated most of the 
compound in 2007, eliminating souvenir shops and tourist- 
related exhibits from all three floors of the small pavilion 
and allowed tourists only on the roof by the end of 2008. 
The lone local vendor operating out of a tiny shack outside 
of the compound's security perimeter commented that the PLA 
took back control of the pavilion late last year and that 
the Hunchun Tourism Bureau was still trying to find an 
alternate location to build a new pavilion for tourists. 
 
¶5. (C) QUANHE/WONJONG-RI: This land port is the closest 
Chinese border crossing to Rason and appeared to be as busy 
as ever.  There were over 15 trucks, cars, and minibuses 
lined up on the bridge waiting to clear North Korean 
customs, and four more trucks on the Chinese side awaiting 
approval to drive onto the bridge at midday April 13. 
Despite previous rumors that the DPRK would shut down the 
market in Rason, congenoff and assistant observed a normal, 
if not higher than usual, amount of traffic heading into 
North Korea. 
 
¶6. (C) KHUNCHUN LAND PORT: By contrast, Hunchun's lone land 
port on the Russian border looked desolate.  Signs in 
Chinese, Korean, and Russian greeted travelers, but the only 
activity witnessed was a half-empty Russian bus headed back 
to Russia.  Shopkeepers at the souvenir shops commented that 
business was down, due to the weak state of the Russian 
economy. 
 
¶7. (C) SHUAIWANZIJIAO/SAMANJAGYO: Like the much larger 
broken bridge in Dandong that allows tourists to walk out 
into the middle of the Yalu River, this much smaller, 
unmanned Japanese-colonial-era bridge is a regular tourist 
stop just off of the Hunchun-Tumen highway, and allows one 
to walk out over the Tumen River.  However, as congenoff 
approached the bridge, he encountered a large, freshly-hung, 
 
SHENYANG 00000076  002 OF 004 
 
 
red-and-yellow banner spanning the bridge, clearly stating 
the bridge was off-limits at the direction of the Yanbian 
PSB.  There were also two large surveillance cameras mounted 
at the northern (Chinese) end of the bridge. 
 
¶8. (C) TUMEN/NAMYANG: In a completely new move, PAP guards 
at the land port had donned bulletproof vests and helmets. 
Three-man teams conducted patrols along the riverbank, 
another unprecedented sight according to our assistant. 
After paying the obligatory entrance fee to the lookout and 
(normally) to the bridge, the guards prevented congenoff and 
assistant from walking onto the bridge, citing a new policy 
that only Chinese tourists were allowed access.  The PAP 
guard said foreign tourists were still allowed to visit the 
top of the gatehouse but that photography was prohibited.  A 
vendor at a souvenir shop said these new policies had been 
in place since late March and suspected that it was related 
to the recent "capture" of the American journalists in 
Tumen.  The vendor predicted that the stringent security 
measures would eventually be rescinded.  A single North 
Korean locomotive came across the Tumen rail bridge into 
China during our stop around 9 a.m. April 13. 
 
¶9. (C) KAISHANTUN/SAMBONG: Congenoff and assistant were 
denied access to the land port at Kaishantun mid-afternoon 
on April 14.  The customs building and guardhouse looked 
new, but the surrounding parking lot and road leading to the 
bridge remain unpaved.  There were two trucks lined up on 
the North Korean side of the bridge and no vehicles in the 
Kaishantun side.  Kaishantun looked like a ghost town, with 
empty storefronts, vacant apartment buildings, and shuttered 
light industry. 
 
¶10. (C) SANHE/HOERYONG: Congenoff and assistant attempted to 
visit the land port at Sanhe the same day but were denied 
access.  There were three vehicles lined up at the Chinese 
side; the North Korean side was not visible from the road. 
The Sanhe facility appeared to be recently modernized. 
 
¶11. (C) DANDONG: Congenoff and assistant were accompanied by 
the Dandong FAO to the famous broken bridge on the Yalu 
River and afterwards took a boat ride together late in the 
morning on April 8, a few days after the North Korean 
missile test.  There were at least 20 trucks, minibuses, and 
cars waiting on the bridge to clear North Korean customs, 
with many more at the Dandong Land Port waiting to clear 
Chinese customs - a regular amount of cross-border trade. 
There were at least 10 North Koreans strolling around the 
riverside park area and almost 20 North Korean men playing 
volleyball at a riverside dock.  Dandong FAO Vice Director 
Yang Song said that Dandong City's cultural exchanges with 
the DPRK were ongoing and just recently, in recognition of 
the 60th anniversary of PRC-DPRK relations, an official 
North Korean dancing and singing troupe had given a series 
of performances in Dandong. 
 
COUNTING COWS AND DOGS 
---------------------- 
¶12. (C) Congenoff and assistant observed more activity along 
the DPRK border than in previous years, with several groups 
of people and livestock visibly engaged in agricultural 
activities.  While there was clear evidence of prior farming 
on the denuded hillsides and mountaintops all along the 
border, on this visit, no farming activity was observed at 
the higher elevations; all agricultural activity was focused 
on the lowland areas closer to the riverbank. 
 
¶13. (C) NAMYANG: At the northernmost point of North Korea 
where the Tumen River makes a wide bend northeast of Tumen 
City, congenoff observed over 20 individuals setting fire to 
lowland fields in preparation for the spring farming season. 
Three well-fed cows lazed about nearby.  Some 200 meters 
away from this work group, four similarly well-fed, mongrel 
dogs could be seen playing along the riverbank. 
 
¶14. (C) BANGWON-RI: From a bluff just south of Kaishantun, 
congenoff saw three groups of 5-10 individuals each in the 
North Korean town of Bangwon-ri, along with four cows, one 
carting material on a road and the others plowing fields 
along the riverbank.  A large excavator could be seen in the 
distance along the railroad.  There was the occasional 
bicyclist and handcar, along with a two-car passenger train 
 
SHENYANG 00000076  003 OF 004 
 
 
seen heading downstream along the river between Hakpo-ri and 
Bangwon-ri. 
 
¶15. (C) HAKPO-RI: Halfway between Kaishantun and Sanhe, at 
the relatively small North Korean village of Hakpo-ri, 
congenoff saw six cows along the riverbank, with three 
engaged in agricultural activity while the other three were 
grazing.  Congenoff saw two groups of people farming in 
Hakpo-ri, along with five sheep/goats and two dogs roaming 
unaccompanied about 100 meters upstream. 
 
LOCAL OFFICIALS: WE'RE BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
¶16. (C) Congenoff met (unofficially) in a one-on-one meeting 
with Yanbian Vice Governor Ximen Shunji (protect,) vice 
governor responsible for commerce, foreign affairs, tourism, 
and food and product safety.  Ximen said he had been fully 
occupied in the weeks since the "journalist problem," 
working with provincial and central government officials to 
find a resolution.  Ximen advised against official USG 
travel to Yanbian and other border regions in the future, 
and instead invited congenoff to visit Yanbian unofficially 
anytime, offering to pay all expenses and to meet whenever 
congenoff is in town.  Ximen also mentioned that he had been 
forced to cancel his participation in a planned trip to 
Pyongyang by the Jilin Governor to explore further Chinese 
investment in North Korea (BIO NOTE: Governor Ximen's wife 
is a senior official in the Yanbian PSB.  Their son went to 
a Chinese school and is now attending Jilin University. 
Their daughter attended the U.S.- and South Korean- 
affiliated Yanbian University of Science and Technology and 
is graduating this May from a U.S. sister school, California 
Baptist University.) 
 
¶17. (C) Congenoff's sole official meeting with the Yanbian 
FAO was canceled the day before the Yanbian PSB was 
scheduled to turn over the the confiscated belongings of 
Mitchell Koss, the AmCit photographer who accompanied the 
two detained journalists and was investigated and 
subsequently released by Chinese authorities.  Instead, 
Yanbian FAO Ms. Chi Yanhua (protect) made an unannounced 
arrival as the PSB meeting drew to a close, and escorted 
congenoff back to the hotel.  During the 15-minute ride, Ms. 
Chi launched into an extended conversation and again invited 
congenoff to make an unofficial visit at "any time you would 
like."  As for official travel, Chi said the FAO was too 
busy to entertain a visit from the Consulate that was not 
related to a specific consular case.  When pressed for a 
potential time to start making official calls again, Chi 
said "perhaps November."  She then reiterated that congenoff 
was welcome to visit unofficially at anytime and offered to 
meet unofficially. 
 
¶18. (C) Congenoff spoke on the sidelines of the PSB meeting 
with the chief of the Yanbian Entry-Exit Administration Li 
Yongxue (protect.)  Li was cordial and spoke comfortably 
about the fallout from the incident with the journalists. 
Li said that this episode had complicated the autonomous 
prefecture's relations with Jilin provincial officials and 
the central government, casting doubt upon their ability to 
handle the large number of foreigners engaged in various 
unauthorized activities along the border.  Li told congenoff 
to contact him anytime, offering his phone number, which was 
a South Korean cell phone number. 
 
OTHER NOTES 
----------- 
¶19. (C) Long-time North Korea hand and Jilin FAO Vice 
Director Cai Changqing is a Yanbian native, graduate of Kim 
Il Sung University, and has served as an official 
interpreter on many of his 100  visits to North Korea over 
his 30  year career with Jilin FAO.  He recently attended an 
April 15 celebration for Kim Il Sung's birthday in Jilin 
City and will accompany the Jilin Governor on a trip to 
Pyongyang in late April to investigate investment 
opportunities in North Korea. 
 
¶20. (C) Hunchun Party Secretary Liu Youlin, at a recent 
consulate-hosted lunch, said that his city's cultural 
exchanges with the DPRK have been robust except for the 
hiatus in the late 1990s and early 2000s when the DPRK's 
economy collapsed.  Every year there is at least one 
 
SHENYANG 00000076  004 OF 004 
 
 
official governmental delegation exchange.  Even at the 
middle school-level, there have been regular exchanges 
between Chinese and North Korean soccer teams.  This year, 
in celebration of the 60th anniversary of formal diplomatic 
relations, Hunchun and North Korea are increasing the 
frequency of their exchanges.  In contrast, PS Liu said that 
there was almost no interaction with their Russian 
neighbors, surmising that the very small population of the 
Kraskino/Zarubino/Posyet region made it difficult for the 
Russians to match up with the much larger Hunchun. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
¶21. (C) COMMENT: The latest high-profile border incident has 
brought this ethnic autonomous prefecture into the spotlight 
of the provincial and central government.  Whether the 
heightened state of readiness along the border is merely for 
show or reflects real insecurity on the part of the Chinese 
government is hard to tell.  Against this backdrop, the 
South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a consular 
travel warning on April 23 to its citizens about possible 
danger along the North Korean border.  The ROK consulate 
here said the announcement was part of a broader initiative 
to show the public it was taking steps to reign in 
"adventure travel" and not the result of bilateral 
consultations.  END COMMENT. 
 
WICKMAN