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Wednesday, October 31, 2007     East-Asia-Intel.com

China trains carrying aid to North Korea have history of not returning

SEOUL — Sources in the border city of Dandong in China said that food aid destined for North Korea from the World Food Program (WFP) had failed to clear customs.

Customs sources said that not enough trains were available to carry the food as trains that had previously crossed the bridge into North Korea had failed to return.

About 50 Chinese trains were allocated to exclusively transport cargo to and from North Korea, according to Korean-Chinese business people in the city.

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During the past several years, impoverished North Koreans have stolen virtually anything they could lay their hands on, especially food and steel.

North Korea has also begun collecting steel scrap across the country in recent years.

The trains are all numbered and usually leave fully loaded and come back mostly empty. In the past, China would sometimes delay sending more trains when earlier ones were late returning. But operations usually resumed after a few days. This time, they said, it has been more than a few days.

Trains that were late in returning in the past often came back with parts and equipment missing. On other occasions, old and deteriorated trains returned instead of newer ones.

According to the customs officials in Dandong, more than 1,800 trains failed to return during the past decade and the number of missing trains is sharply increasing these days.

WFP is reportedly planning to dispatch about 8,000 tons of wheat, corn and rice from Dandong. Since the Chinese trains can carry only 58 tons, about 140 trains would be needed.

China is waiting for the trains to return from North Korea, but by delaying additional allocations, Beijing is also sending a message to Pyongyang that it will not tolerate any more disappearances.

State media in Pyongyang have been reporting irregularities in the scrap collection campaign, such as people stealing power transmission cables.

At least one team of thieves was executed publicly this year for having stolen power cables, according to a publication by Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU) in Seoul.

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