Flourishing Russia ties help revive North Korea’s ‘paradise’ special economic zone

The Rason Special Economic Zone was a dream destination for North Koreans before sanctions and pandemic border closings choked off trade and tourism

From Rason’s port, North Korea has sent Russia an estimated 2,000 containers suspected of carrying artillery shells, and possibly short-range missiles

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North Korean and Russian flags are seen at Russia’s Vostochny cosmodrome in September, amid Kim Jong-un’s meeting there with Vladimir Putin. Photo: Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

Published: 10:31am, 29 Nov 2023Updated: 11:37am, 29 Nov 2023

Once a North Korean experiment in limited capitalism, the Rason Special Economic Zone appears to be the epicentre of the isolated country’s growing cooperation with Russia, experts say, including possible shipments of arms for the war in Ukraine.

With flat blocks and booming markets flooded with imported goods, the Rason special zone, established in the 1990s on the border with China and Russia, was a dream destination for many North Koreans before tighter sanctions hit and pandemic-era border closings choked off nearly all trade and tourism, two experts who study Rason said.

In recent months, there have been clear signs that the area is poised for a comeback, with ships docking there for the first time since 2018, and satellite imagery suggesting a spike in trade from both the port and a rail line to Russia.

A satellite image released by Planet Labs shows a port in Rason, North Korea, last month. Photo: Planet Labs Pbc Handout via Reuters

Although China – with its vastly larger economy and deeper historic ties with North Korea – might seem the obvious driver of a recovery in Rason, experts say the country’s deepening cooperation with Russia may make a more immediate impact.

“Now that North Korea and Russia are becoming very close against the backdrop of the Ukraine war, Russia might send more tourists to North Korea, which can reinvigorate tourism [in Rason],” said Jeong Eunlee, a North Korea economy expert at South Korea’s government-run Korea Institute for National Unification.

Russia can also sell coal, oil, and flour through Rason, Jeong said, and if more North Korean workers are allowed to cross the border, they can send Russian medicine and other goods home for relatives to sell.

The Russian Federal Customs Service said it had “temporarily suspended the publication of foreign trade statistics”.