Special administrative region Sin Besondereiju

Sinŭiju International Trade Zone
	;
Basic data
Country	North Korea
ISO 3166-2	KP-03
politics
Head of government	Supreme Leader (de jure) Kim Jong-un

40.1013 124.4038Coordinates: 40 ° 6 ′ N , 124 ° 24 ′ E

Sinuiju Special Administrative Region is the original name of a special economic zone in the north of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on the border with China , which on 12 September 2002 proclaimed was. The term Sinŭiju International Trade Zone has been used since 2014 .

Original conception

The North Korean government's plans in 2002 provided for the establishment of a special economic zone that would be autonomous from the rest of the country for 50 years. Citizens with technical skills and experience in administrative tasks should be selected for the construction. Other North Koreans would not have been allowed to enter the area in the future. The 200,000 inhabitants of the 132 square kilometer region, most of them soldiers, would have been relocated. Managers from other Asian countries, Europe and the USA should be recruited to draw up laws . Foreigners would have otherwise had free access to the special economic zone.

Investments were mainly expected from the areas of tourism and finance , but also from light industry , which is why it was planned to complete an industrial complex. The US dollar was to serve as the currency in the Special Administrative Region of Sinŭiju . The project was primarily designed for cooperation with future business partners from the neighboring People's Republic of China . The Hyundai Motor Company and Land Corporation from South Korea also wanted to invest in the project, and other South Korean companies that want to benefit from the cheap labor in North Korea, among other things, applied to set up in a planned commercial complex.

Kim Jong-il intended to appoint the Sino-Dutch businessman Yang Bin , who allegedly got rich from the orchid trade and was named the second richest man in China by Forbes magazine in 2001, as the first governor of the administrative region.

However, in October 2002, Yang was arrested in Shenzhen, China for tax evasion and bribery , and in July 2003 he was sentenced to 18 years in prison. It turned out that his company was heavily in debt, he was engaged in illegal real estate deals and had fraudulently placed his shares on the stock exchange .

The following areas of the P'yŏngan-pukto Province were to form the Sinŭiju Special Administrative Region in 2002:

Sinŭiju city

- Kwanmun-dong ( 관문동 ; 關門洞 )
- Ponbu-dong ( 본부동 ; 本部洞 )
- Sinwon-dong ( 신원동 ; 新元洞 )
- Yŏkchŏn-dong ( 역전 동 ; 驛前洞 )
- Ch'ŏngsong-dong ( 청송 동 ; 青松洞 )
- Kŭnhwa-dong ( 근화동 ; 芹花洞 )
- Paeksa-dong ( 백사 동 ; 白沙洞 )
- Paekun-dong ( 백운동 ; 白雲洞 )
- Ch'aeha-dong ( 채 하동 ; 彩霞洞 )
- Oil-dong ( 오일 동 ; 五一洞 ; also "May 1-dong")
- Apkang-dong ( 압 강동 ; 鴨江洞 )
- Namsang-dong ( 남 상동 ; 南上洞 )
- Namsŏ-dong ( 남서 동 ; 南西洞 )
- Namjung-dong ( 남중동 ; 南中洞 )
- Namha-dong ( 남 하동 ; 南下洞 )
- Kaehyŏk-dong ( 개혁 동 ; 改革洞 )
- Haebang-dong ( 해방 동 ; 解放洞 )
- P'yŏnghwa-dong ( 평화동 ; 平和洞 )
- Minp'o-dong ( 민 포동 ; 敏浦洞 )
- Namsong-dong ( 남송 도 ; 南松洞 )
- Sinnam-dong ( 신남동 ; 新南洞 )
- Sinp'o-dong ( 신포동 ; 新浦洞 )
- Sumun-dong ( 수문 동 ; 水門洞 )
- Nammin-dong ( 남 민동 ; 南敏洞 )
- Tongha-dong ( 동 하동 ; 東下洞 )
- Tongjung-dong ( 동 중동 ; 東中洞 )
- Tongsang-dong ( 동상동 ; 東上洞 )
- Ch'insŏn 1-dong ( 친선 일동 ; 親善 1 洞 )
- Ch'insŏn 2-dong ( 친선 이동 ; 親善 2 洞 )
- Pangjik-dong ( 방직 동 ; 紡織洞 )
- Majŏn-dong ( 마전동 ; 麻田洞 )
- Hadan-ri ( 하단 리 ; 下端里 )
- Sangdan-ri ( 상단 리 ; 上端里 )
- Taji-ri ( 다지리 ; 多智里 )
- Sŏngsŏ-ri ( 성서 리 ; 城西里 )
- Part of Sŏnsang-dong ( 선상 동 ; 仙上洞 )
- Part of Yŏnha-dong ( 연하 동 ; 煙下洞 )
- Part of Songhan-dong ( 송한 동 ; 送瀚洞 )
- Part of Ryusang 1-dong ( 류 상일동 ; 柳上 1 洞 )
- Part of Ryŏnsang 1-dong ( 련 상일동 ; 蓮上 1 洞 )
- Part of Paekt'u-dong ( 백 투동 ; 白土洞 )
- Part of T'osŏng-ri ( 토성리 ; 土城里 )
- Part of Ryuch'o-ri ( 류 초리 ; 柳草里 )

County Ch'ŏlsan
- Part of Rihwa-ri ( 리 화리 ; 梨花里 )
- Part of Kŭmsan-ri ( 금산리 ; 錦山里 )

Ŭiju
county
- Sŏho-ri ( 서호리 ; 西湖里 )
- Part of Hongnam-ri ( 홍 남리 ; 弘南里 )
- Part of Taesan-ri ( 대산리 ; 臺山里 )

County Yŏmju
- Tasa-rodongjagu ( 다사 로동자 구 ; 多獅勞動者區 ; also "Tasa workers' district")
- Part of Sŏkam-ri ( 석암 리 ; 石岩里 )

Development since 2003

Since the incarceration of Chinese governor-designate Yang Bin, the realization of the plans has remained uncertain. In 2006 a study by the US Nautilus Institute reported numerous activities in the region. Companies and residents are being relocated, and companies and authorities that have trade relations with foreign countries are opening offices in Sinŭiju.

According to the "Asia Center for Development and Transformation" (AZET) in 2007, the establishment of the special economic zone should have failed. It is now planned to set up a test zone on two islands in the Yalu River . In addition, Sinŭiju is to become the center of the now planned Sinŭiju International Trade Zone .

Web links

Collection of news about the planned Special Economic Zone on North Korean Economy Watch

Footnotes

↑ ^a ^b ^c DPRK Guidebook: DPRK's Special Economic Zones (SEZ) ( Memento from June 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
^ Joseph Kahn: To Be Rich, Chinese and in Trouble: 3 Tales . On nytimes.com on October 13, 2002
↑ Hendrik Ankenbrand: The bizarre capitalist island and its fallen king . On spiegel.de on October 4, 2002
↑ China pakt Nederlander Yang Bin op . On trouw.nl on October 5, 2002
^ John Gittings: China's wealthy orchid king on trial for fraud . On theguardian.com on June 12, 2003
↑ Jutta Lietsch: The rise and fall of an orchid dealer. In: Berliner Zeitung . July 15, 2003, accessed June 10, 2015 .
^ Mathias Bölinger: North Korea's enigmatic capitalist city . On deutsche-welle.de on May 9, 2006
^ N. Korea seeks economic zone near China . On upi.com on March 23, 2007
^ Leonid Petrov: North Korea's new special economic zone going nowhere . On eastasiaforum.org on July 4, 2012
↑ Sinuiju SEZ renamed . On nkeconwatch.com on July 23, 2014
^ Sinuiju International Economic Zone . On nkeconwatch.com on December 1, 2015

[DPRK-1] DPRK Guidebook: DPRK's Special Economic Zones (SEZ) ( Memento from June 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive )

[2] Joseph Kahn: To Be Rich, Chinese and in Trouble: 3 Tales . On nytimes.com on October 13, 2002

[3] Hendrik Ankenbrand: The bizarre capitalist island and its fallen king . On spiegel.de on October 4, 2002

[4] China pakt Nederlander Yang Bin op . On trouw.nl on October 5, 2002

[5] John Gittings: China's wealthy orchid king on trial for fraud . On theguardian.com on June 12, 2003

[6] Jutta Lietsch: The rise and fall of an orchid dealer. In: Berliner Zeitung . July 15, 2003, accessed June 10, 2015 .

[7] Mathias Bölinger: North Korea's enigmatic capitalist city . On deutsche-welle.de on May 9, 2006

[8] N. Korea seeks economic zone near China . On upi.com on March 23, 2007

[9] Leonid Petrov: North Korea's new special economic zone going nowhere . On eastasiaforum.org on July 4, 2012

[10] Sinuiju SEZ renamed . On nkeconwatch.com on July 23, 2014

[11] Sinuiju International Economic Zone . On nkeconwatch.com on December 1, 2015