N. Korea`s trade with China on steady rise, deficit growing

BEIJING, Jan. 19 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's trade with China has shown steady
growth in recent years, surpassing US$2 billion last year, while its deficit has
grown in tandem, customs officials in Beijing said Monday.
Cumulative trade volume from 2003-2007 reached $7.6 billion, with North Korean
exports valued at $2.5 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $2.6 billion on
the North Korean side, they said.
Bilateral trade continued to grow from $1.6 billion in 2005 to $2.1 billion in
the January-October period in 2008, with data on the final two months yet to be
collected.
In contrast, inter-Korean trade has staggered due to frozen diplomatic relations
since the launch of the conservative Lee Myung-bak government in South Korea last
year.
North Korea exchanged goods and services worth $1.8 billion with its
second-largest trading partner, South Korea, last year, up a mere 1.2 percent
from a year earlier. Inter-Korean trade in 2007 increased by 33 percent under the
liberal Roh Moo-hyun government.
North Korea recently opened a consulate branch office in Dandong, a Chinese city
bordering the North, in what appeared to be a move to reinforce trade with its
biggest trading partner.
Dandong, located right across the Yalu River from North Korea's Sinuiju, is the
passageway for about 70 percent of trade between the communist allies.
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