Increase in Sino-North Korean Trade at Wonjong-ni-Quanhe Border Crossing

Key Findings

• There have been dramatic increases in Sino-North Korean trade at the lesser-known Wonjong-ni-Quanhe border crossing, which is located in the northeast corner of North Korea along the Tumen river connecting North Hamgyong province and the Korean expatriate community in the Yanbian autonomous prefecture. 
• With the end of COVID-19, cross-border trade levels peaked between June and October 2023 to approximately 9.5 times higher than pre-COVID averages.  
• Current trade levels are estimated to remain approximately four times higher than those of pre-COVID years.  
• During North Korea’s COVID lockdown, trade at this crossing dropped virtually to zero between March 2020 and November 2022.  

Increase in Cross-Border Trade

The Wonjong-ni-Quanhe border crossing is located (42.568379 130.523456) in the extreme northeast section of North Korea on the Tumen River connecting the North Korean Province of Hamgyong-bukto (North Hamgyong Province) to the Chinese Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in Jilin Province.  

Although this road crossing has served as an important but minor trade conduit between the two nations since the late 1930s, by 2012 the original bridge had reached the limit of its usefulness plans were developed to build a new bridge. Reports indicate that this new bridge was completed and opened in 2016. However, satellite imagery indicates that construction of all four lanes only became fully open for traffic in early 2017. Later that year, because of North Korea’s Hwasong-12 missile tests that overflew Japan’s Hokkaido Island, the UN imposed sanctions on the country, which included trade restrictions through Najin Port. These sanctions resulted in a dramatic decline in Wonjong-ni-Quanhe cross-border trade.  

Subsequently, all cross-border trade dropped to virtually zero between March 2020 and November 2022 because of COVID-19 and North Korea’s closing of its borders. With the end of COVID-19, cross-border trade at the Wonjong-ni-Quanhe border crossing resumed and peaked between June and October 2023, averaging approximately 141 vehicles in observed dates, about 9.5 times the average observed in pre-COVID dates. It then declined to what appears to be its current levels beginning in February 2024, now averaging around 56 vehicles per observed day. Notably, even with the decline, current trade levels remain approximately four times higher than pre-pandemic levels. These fluctuations underscore the crossing’s role within the broader North Korea-China economic engagement.  

In the future, should UN sanctions on North Korea be eased or discontinued, trade will likely resume through Najin Port. This, in turn, would likely see both a resumption of foreign investment activity in the port and the Rason Special Economic Zone, as well as a dramatic increase in trade volume through the Wonjong-ni-Quanhe border crossing. However, trade volumes here are unlikely to match those of the Sinuiju-Dandong rail crossing, given that the Wonjong-ni-Quanhe border crossing is a road crossing rather than rail.  

History of the Wongjon-ni-Quanhe Border Crossing

In 1932, Japanese officials from colonial Korea and representatives of the newly established State of Manchukuo met and signed an agreement calling for the construction of six highway bridges over the Yalu and Tumen Rivers within the next seven years. One of these was a single-lane deck bridge completed in 1938, located along the Tumen River at Wonjong-dong to connect the factories in Hunchun, China, 35 kilometers to Northern Korea and the port city of Rason (Najin).¹  

The bridge survived the Korean War and, with minor maintenance, was serviceable until 2009, serving as an important but minor trade conduit between the two nations—the crossings along the Yalu River, especially the Sinuiju-Dandong crossing, have served as the primary trade corridor with China. In 2009, a long-overdue Wonjong bridge renovation project financed by China was undertaken.   

However, in late 2012, it was determined that fundamental structural weaknesses in the aging bridge could not be addressed through an additional renovation project.² A reduction of cross-border traffic was implemented because it was economically unfeasible to address the issues required to maintain regular or expanded traffic.   

Two years later, in 2014, North Korea and China agreed to replace the 77-year-old bridge with a modern four-lane deck bridge and the upgrading of customs, immigration, and warehouse facilities on both sides of the crossing.³ This decision was strongly influenced by political and economic forces in both countries. Within North Korea, Kim Jong-un was pursuing a policy of prioritizing the development of weapons of mass destruction along with pursuing economic growth.⁴ A key component within Kim’s economic growth policy was the development of the Rason Special Economic Zone into an international market.⁵ Within China, there was a growing desire to develop the industries in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture and Jilin Province for export to Asia and the Americas. This itself was part of a broader Chinese desire to develop the three eastern provinces of Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang.  

From its origins as a single-lane bridge in the 1930s to its current form as a four-lane crossing, the Wonjong-ni–Quanhe bridge has evolved as part of the shifting economic and political priorities of both North Korea and China.