October 27, 2025, by Jennifer Jun, Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative and Victor Cha—
Recent AIS analysis show continued standoff between South Korean and Chinese Coast Guards in the Provisional Measures Zone (PMZ)... Left: Image of the Shen Lan 1, the first of the two aquaculture cages to be deployed inside the South Korea-China Provisional Measures Zone (PMZ),...
October 13, 2025, by Victor Cha, Bonny Lin, Andy Lim and Truly Tinsley—
CSIS experts address critical questions regarding Chinese Premier Li Qiang's recent visit to North Korea and the significance for bilateral ties.
June 23, 2025, by Jennifer Jun, Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative and Victor Cha—
Satellite imagery and AIS data analysis provide the first comprehensive timeline on the Chinese structures in the South Korea-China Provisional Measures Zone... View of the Atlantic Amsterdam, May 30, 2025. Copyright © Maxar Technologies. Image may not…
May 21, 2025, by Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., Victor Cha and Jennifer Jun—
Imagery shows dramatic increases in Sino-North Korean trade at the lesser-known Wonjong-ni-Quanhe border crossing over the past few years... Overview of Wonjong-ni-Quanhe border crossing, March 21, 2025. Copyright © 2025 by Maxar Technologies. Image may not be republished without permission. Please contact imagery@csis.org. There...
May 1, 2025, by Andy Lim and Victor Cha—
Beyond Parallel created an original dataset of all high-level visits between the two countries from 1953 to the present to determine whether the number of high level visits over the last six decades could shed light on the current state of the relationship.
September 30, 2024, by Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., Victor Cha and Jennifer Jun—
Satellite images of the NK-China border indicate that trade between the two countries is gradually recovering to pre-pandemic levels. However, this restoration of trade was upended when unusually heavy rains struck the area in late July... Overview of the Dandong, Sinuiju, and Uiju Areas, September 8, 2024. (Copyright © 2024 by…
November 15, 2021, by Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., Victor Cha and Jennifer Jun—
Over 16 months after its shutdown of the border with China to prevent COVID transmission, North Korea has seen delays in its efforts to re-open commerce with its primary trade partner. The conversion of Uiju Airbase into a disinfection facility started in early 2021, but the most recent satellite imagery as of November 12 shows no signs of being operational, indicating a delay of at least six months from its original opening plans. Smaller-scale disinfection facilities at other crossings appear to be in development.
May 4, 2020, by Joseph S. Bermudez Jr. and Marie DuMond—
Widely considered as a midterm referendum on President Moon, the April electoral victory will breathe new life into his administration’s heretofore stalled diplomatic efforts with North Korea, a key pillar of which is inter-Korean railway cooperation. In the context of South Korea's renewed efforts in inter-Korean railway cooperation, Beyond Parallel reviews the railway connections of the Korean peninsula.
July 22, 2019, by Joseph S. Bermudez Jr. and Victor Cha—
Satellite imagery shows that the new Namyang-Tumen road bridge connecting North Hamgyong province in North Korea with China is nearing completion and could be open to traffic as early as the end of 2019... Satellite imagery shows that the new Namyang-Tumen road bridge connecting North Hamgyong province in North…
January 7, 2019, by Victor Cha, Joseph S. Bermudez Jr. and Marie DuMond—
Should inter-Korean cooperation result in the re-connection of the railways in North and South Korea, the rail networks of the Korean peninsula could then be integrated into a rail network spanning the Eurasian continent through China and Russia. If actualized, this would mark a significant diplomatic and geopolitical accomplishment for the Korean peninsula. Nonetheless, a long and significant modernization process will need to take place to fully integrate the systems in a commercially viable way.
