Recent satellite images obtained by Human Rights Watch depict a significant increase in security measures along the border between North Korea and China.

It highlights a tightening of control by North Korean authorities during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The images, spanning from 2019 to 2023 and covering approximately a quarter of the northern border, reveal the construction of 482km of new fencing and the enhancement of another 260km of existing fencing.

This infrastructure development is coupled with the establishment of new guard posts and buffer zones, aimed at restricting cross-border movement and trade.

Source: Human Rights Watch

According to HRW, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has intensified border security measures in recent years, coinciding with the onset of the pandemic.

Although the border was reopened briefly to facilitate trade with China, the report underscores a broader pattern of repressive policies by the North Korean regime.

The HRW report, titled “A Sense of Terror Stronger than a Bullet: The Closing of North Korea 2018-2023,” highlights the “overbroad, excessive, and unnecessary measures during the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Guard posts

These measures include a notable increase in border security facilities, with the number of guard posts rising from 38 to over 6,500.

Lina Yoon, senior Korea researcher at HRW, emphasized the detrimental impact of these policies on the North Korean population, urging Kim Jong Un to reconsider the restrictive measures.

Yoon called for the reopening of borders for trade, relaxation of internal travel restrictions, and the provision of monitored international emergency assistance.

The intensified border controls have disrupted informal trade routes, hindering the flow of essential goods such as rice and wheat into North Korea.

This has exacerbated food shortages and increased the vulnerability of North Korean families, particularly those reliant on remittances from relatives abroad.