File photo: The Sino-North Korean Friendship Bridge connects Dandong, China, and Sinuiju, North Korea. (Daily NK)
As North Korea expands its exports of artificial hair products such as wigs and false eyelashes, the North Korean consulate in China is involved in transporting handicrafts between the two countries using official vehicles.
Chinese sources recently revealed that North Korean consulate vehicles are transporting goods between Dandong, China’s Liaoning Province, and North Korea’s Sinuiju, North Pyongan Province.
The vehicle in question is a light truck that North Koreans call a “panton.” They carry raw materials when entering North Korea, and finished goods when entering China.
Although it cannot carry a lot of cargo, a small truck is sufficient for false eyelashes, wigs, and the raw materials used to make them, as they do not take up much space.
North Korea has been using consulate vehicles to transport artificial hair products for more than a month since early August.
A Chinese trading company was responsible for transporting hair products to and from North Korea. But recently, North Korea has started using consular vehicles to transport goods as transportation costs have soared and Chinese customs has stepped up inspections of goods bound for North Korea, officials said.
As per diplomatic practice, consular vehicles are not closely inspected, allowing North Korea to cut shipping costs and potentially encounter little resistance from Chinese customs officials when moving goods in and out of China. It’s for a reason.
Daily NK was unable to confirm whether goods transported in North Korean consular vehicles are included in official trade statistics from Chinese customs authorities. However, the official said consular vehicles “pass through customs without having their cargo inspected, as the authorities have not carried out thorough quarantine inspections,” and that “much of the cargo is not included in official statistics.” Ta.
North Korean consulate vehicles transport artificial hair products between Sinuiju and Dandong every day. But North Korea only sends one truck a day, not several at a time.
“If you pack false eyelashes into a small box measuring 30cm x 30cm, you can get a profit of 3,000 Chinese yuan,” the person said. “You don’t need a big vehicle to transport false eyelashes and wigs.”
In other words, the small truck attached to the consulate is sufficient to transport raw materials and finished products for artificial hair products.
However, no one knows whether North Korea will continue to use consular vehicles to transport items such as false eyelashes and wigs. Although the use of consular vehicles has the immediate benefits of reducing transportation costs and facilitating customs clearance, it is only a temporary measure and difficult to sustain.
The official said, “North Korean trading companies prefer to use consular vehicles because they can reduce transportation costs, but if China’s customs sees this as a problem, they will have no choice but to stop using them.”
Daily NK works with a network of North Korean, Chinese and other sources. For security reasons, their identities remain anonymous.
Please send comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
read in korean
