Inside the Chinese city helping sustain hermit kingdom North Korea

Before I even walk into the restaurant in the Chinese city of Dandong, there are obvious signs of its ties to North Korea.

Upbeat North Korean songs blare from a loudspeaker placed outside the entrance counter, where two small North Korean flags are standing in a vase.

Inside I'm given a menu written in North Korean, while images of Pyongyang army and navy soldiers pass across a giant TV screen adorning one wall.

There is no overt propaganda, but there is a veil of secrecy.

Multiple A4 white pages are taped to walls and pylons with warnings saying "no camera", "no filming the wait staff" and "no photo".

I keep my phone in my bag, but discreetly ask some of the wait staff who are rushing from table to table, are you from North Korea?

"Yes," they reply, "… and so is the chef."

The presence of North Korean workers inside China is technically illegal, but in this city it's an open secret.

A United Nations Security Council resolution in 2017 made it unlawful for member states — including China — to allow the employment of North Korean workers in their jurisdictions.

But it's clearly happening here in Dandong, on the China-North Korea border.

This city has become an economic lifeline for Pyongyang, which has been hit with decades of international sanctions over its illegal nuclear weapons program.

China has always denied hosting workers from North Korea, but a report last year found there were 20,000–70,000 North Korean labourers in China. 

The Chinese foreign ministry was contacted for comment.

China accounts for about 95 per cent of North Korea's official trade — most of which flows through Dandong over an old border bridge across the Yalu River.

Every day, people gather on the shoreline of Dandong to watch the trucks drive over a single-lane, old and rickety bridge, travelling a short few hundred metres into the North Korean city of Sinuiju.

They also stare with binoculars and phones at the North Korean buildings and apartment blocks on the other side of the Yalu River.

A warming relationship

This week, the two countries deepened their relationship by opening the biggest and most significant border crossing between the two cities — a four-lane bridge that some experts say has the potential to dramatically increase cargo loads.

It was a big moment for the people of Dandong, who turned out in mass crowds to cheer and take photos as the trucks passed over for the first time.

Onlooker Ms Zhang said she had never been to North Korea, despite living in Dandong her whole life.

But she supported the new trade route and China's attempts to strengthen ties with its neighbour.

"[Our relationship with North Korea] should be friendly," she said.

"North Korea is a neighbouring country; protecting them is helping ourselves, and their safety is our own security."

At the foot of the new bridge, streams of tourists line up to take selfies and group photos with the mega-structure.

"Long live the China-North Korea friendship," one onlooker, Mr Yang, said with a laugh.

"We and North Korea have always had very good relations. Why? Because the foundation was laid during the Korean War, and the next generation continued to carry it forward.

"So, the relationship between the two countries is very good."

Sino-North Korea watchers say the opening of the bridge is a clear sign of the growing closeness of the two countries, after a period of tension.

The border route was originally financed and completed by China in 2014, but its opening was postponed indefinitely by North Korea when relations soured over China's support for UN sanctions.

But following a summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korea's Kim Jong Un earlier this year, the frostiness seems to be thawing.

China will see this as an opportunity to gain more economic leverage over North Korea, but will most likely go slowly, according to Dr Sow Keat Tok from the Asia Institute at the University of Melbourne.

"We are looking at China winning in the sense that it got its foot back into Pyongyang," he said.

"After a decade of very cool relationship, and the fact that China is now more willing to mellow down its tone [and] speech over nuclearisation in North Korea, that actually gets itself back into the game."

Chinese officials have also alluded to a new era of partnership between the two countries.

"(Bilateral) relations are entering a new phase, embarking on a new chapter," Chinese Premier Li Qiang said in a video address that was played at the bridge's opening in Dandong, according to state media.

Dr Tok said China was also trying to reassert its influence over Pyongyang, which has drifted even closer to Russia in recent years.

North Korea has sent troops and weaponry to Moscow to aid in its war in Ukraine, in exchange for financial aid. Last month, the kingdom also opened its first road bridge with Russia.

"North Korea is now leveraging its relations with Beijing and Moscow against each other," Dr Tok said.

Dandong locals watching the opening ceremony were hopeful the bridge's opening would lead to an economic boost for their city, which once thrived as the primary trade gateway to North Korea.

Ms Wu, from Dandong, has never been to North Korea but wants to visit.

"I think this [new bridge] should bring great development to Dandong," she said.

"Although we don't understand technical terms like economics and trade, I think more and more people will come to Dandong, which should be very helpful for the region."

China's exports to North Korea rose to a six-year high of $2.3 billion last year, an increase of 25 per cent on the year before.

Cruises take tourists closer

But it was still well below levels seen before UN sanctions tightened in 2017.

Dandong is well known for being a tourism hotspot for those curious about the hermit kingdom of North Korea.

The city is dotted with tourist shops selling North Korean goods including soap and alcohol, and offering experiences to dress up in North Korean clothing.

Each day, boats take curious tourists on a cruise on the Yalu River that travels within about 100 metres of the North Korean shoreline, offering a glimpse of the secretive society.

From the boat's upper floor, tourists can see brown and white apartment buildings, open parcels of farmland and abandoned watch towers on the North Korean side of the river.

But on a cruise this week, one thing appeared to be missing.

"Where are the people? Why aren't there any people?" the tourists kept asking each other.

Suddenly there's a flurry of activity on board as a lone swimmer is spotted gliding in the North Korean waters.

His white swimming cap bobbed up and down out of the water as people rushed to point and take photos, though it's unclear if he's Chinese or North Korean.

Those onboard the boat say they're curious to learn more about the country that has such deep partnership with their own, but that they know so little about.

"Finally getting off the boat upstream on the Yalu River, I gained a deeper understanding of this China-North Korea friendship," says one woman.

"[After being here], it feels like I truly appreciate the importance of peace and feel my living environment in China is quite good [compared to North Korea]."

At night, the streets in Dandong are still bustling with crowded restaurants and colourfully lit shops, in a kaleidoscope of blues, purples, greens and reds.

Just across the river, there's a stark difference.

Few of the apartments have lights on and the lack of lighting makes it hard to pick out any of the buildings.

The contrast between the two cities that are separated by a narrow stretch of water could not be more stark, and the secrets of life inside North Korea remain in literal and metaphorical darkness.