Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, I had not been able to visit the border between China and North Korea since 2015. Fortunately, I finally got the opportunity to visit Shenyang and Dandong together with a number of priests from the Bishops Committee for National Reconciliation. After a two-hour morning flight from Incheon International Airport, I arrived in Shenyang where I had lunch in the West Pagoda area before traveling on to Dandong, a journey that took five hours.
I had seen on the Korean news that North Korea had just opened its airspace and that its Koryo Airlines had been bringing back North Korean expatriates from Beijing and had also started to fly back its citizens from Shenyang International Airport. All of their citizens had not been able to return to their homeland for years due to COVID-19. Shenyang is a city that is signified by a single Chinese character in Korean. It is in the heart of Dongdei region where both heavy industry and military industries are very developed, and it is a strategic point connecting Dongbei and the Korean peninsula. Many Chinese-North Korean citizens from the provinces of Pyongan and Kyongsang live in Shenyang and its surrounding cities. There are many stores and restaurants in the West Tower area but North Korean restaurants refuse to accept South Korean customers. I don’t know what’s the situation in South East Asia. I once saw a video of people visiting a North Korean restaurant in Southeast Asia, I don’t know if that was a recently made video or an old one. I was able to enter a place that was selling paintings by North Korean artists that was run like a café. Chinese and overseas Chinese were running businesses in Shenyang and Dandong. North Koreans who were working in restaurants and factories in major Chinese cities were unable to return home when the border was closed during the pandemic.
The Boxer Rebellion was a movement against foreign powers in the provinces of Shandong and North China towards the end of the Qing Dynasty that lasted from November 2, 1899, until September 7, 1901. It is sometimes referred to as the year of Kyung-Jah Rebellion meaning the Rebellion that took place in the year 1900 or the year of the Rat. It is said that more than 150 believers, monks, priests and a bishop were killed in front of Shenyang Cathedral. The first two bishops of the diocese are buried underneath the central aisle of the Cathedral. Unfortunately, all the historical records were destroyed during the cultural revolution, and Shenyang diocese regrets that all they have are very faint historical evidence about those who were martyred. A Qing Dynasty-style statue of the Virgin Mary is a good representation of Qing Dynasty culture.
Shenyang is where the portrait of Crown Prince Sohyeon from the Joseon Dynasty is also located. King Injo surrendered to Qing Taizong the Qing Emperor in 1637. After the conclusion of the Peace Treaty the Qing Dynasty demanded hostages so on April 10, 1637, Prince Sohyeon, together with his wife Kang Xiao, traveled to Shenyang where they were detained together with the ministers of the main office. During his eight years of detention Sohyeon is said to have been introduced to Western civilization by Adam Schall a Catholic missionary he met in Beijing. Sohyeon gathered the captive Koreans together and sought to make a living by cultivating the land, hoarding grain and trading.
Dandong is a five-hour drive from Shenyang and is a border city in the province of Liaoning, bordering Sinuiju North Pyongan Province the Yalu river and the Yellow Sea. South Koreans who specialize in North Korean affairs frequently visit Dandong for research purposes. By checking the trucks and trains that leave Dandong bound for North Korea they can indirectly determine what and how much trade that takes place between China and North Korea and thus gauge the economic situation in North Korea. Reporters frequently visit Dandong whenever some event of note takes place in North Korea.
From the living room of the apartment that the priests stationed in Beijing and Dandong use we could see the city of Shinuiju which is situated between the Yalu River and the North Korean province of North Pyongan. There we celebrated a Mass for peace on the Korean peninsula as we looked across at the island of Wihwa.
From the place where I was staying on the banks of the Yalu River I could clearly see the Sinuiju area. I felt a pang of sadness as I thought “There is North Korea right in front of me.” While it is important to read books and other materials about the situation on the Korean peninsula with it being divided into North and South Korea it is also important to visit the border area and see it with one’s own eyes.
North Korea has announced five special economic zones:
- Rason Special Economic Zone
- Golden Pyeong and Wihwa Island Special Economic Zone
- Kaesong Industrial Zone
- Wonsan and Mt. Geumgang tourist zone
- Sinuiju International Trade Zone.
One can see the Golden Pyeong and Wihwa Island Special Economic from Dandong. As a border city Dandong is a military area and due to the anti-espionage law enacted by the Chinese government, one is only allowed to stop one’s car at designated tourist stations. It is forbidden to stop on any other part of the journey along the way. Of course, attempting to take photographs is a very dangerous occupation.
With the resumption of high-level exchanges between China and North Korea attention has turned to the possibility of the Yalu Bridge which connects Dandong to North Xinjiang province opening this fall or early next year. When I went to the Yalu Bridge I witnessed many Chinese taking photographs. When the bridge was originally completed and about to be opened the coronavirus struck and of course the border was immediately closed. It is reported that both China and North Korea suffered a lot of economic losses due to its forced closure. The customs buildings on the Chinese side were left unattended for three years and fell into disrepair. While looking at the Yalu Bridge I could hear it being repaired and see some vehicles on it so it looks like it will open very soon.
The Broken Bridge, a railroad bridge between China and North Korea, was bombed by the U.S. military during the Korean War, but if you look at this railway bridge nowadays you can see that the North Koreans have destroyed it on their side. Next to the broken bridge is the Friendship or Uhokyo steel railroad bridge that one sees in the news these days which allows trains and trailers to come and go at the same time.
On the Chinese side of the Yalu River, we were able to ride a boat which gave us the chance to look directly into North Korea. There is an hour’s difference in the time between the Chinese side and the North Korean side of the Yalu River. Even though both North and South Korea are in the same time zone and are both part of the Korean peninsula, the situation on the peninsula remains unstable. We continue to live at a time when our prayers for peace are urgently needed.
“May the peace of Christ reign in our hearts, for it is for this that you were called together as parts of one body.” Colossians 3:15
Columban Fr. Nam Seung-Won is in charge of the Columban’s Peace Ministry Department.