00:02On the river separating China and North Korea, these Chinese tourists are deeply fascinated
00:09with their northern neighbour.
00:11For most, it's as close as they'll ever get to one of their country's key allies.
00:16You can see here, this is the border, this is China, this is North Korea.
00:22So, very clearly showing we're in North Korean waters right now.
00:27On the shore, there's a noticeable absence of people.
00:31And this woman tells me it makes her think that her life in China is quite good compared
00:36with North Korea.
00:40But the opening of the largest border crossing between the two countries is a cause for celebration
00:46in Dandong.
00:48Long live the China-North Korea friendship, this man tells me.
00:52Okay.
00:53Pyongyang has long relied on Beijing for 95% of its legitimate trade and for economic
00:59survival in the face of international sanctions.
01:02The opening of the bridge does open a floodgate for more goods flowing out from Pyongyang into
01:09Beijing.
01:09Just across the road behind me, there's a North Korean restaurant, I just had some lunch
01:14there.
01:15We couldn't take photos of the wait staff, but I did manage to speak to some of them and
01:19they told me that they are from North Korea.
01:22And that's interesting because in 2017, the UN Security Council passed a resolution making
01:29it unlawful for member states like China to allow North Koreans to earn an income in their
01:37jurisdictions.
01:37The relationship with the hermit kingdom already well entrenched.
Comments