PRC/DPRK: SCARLET FEVER, SMUGGLING, BORDER-

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SHENYANG 000102 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR PRM, INR, EAP/CM, EAP/K E.O. 12958: DECL: TEN YEARS AFTER KOREAN UNIFICATION TAGS: PREL PGOV PREF PINR KN KS CH SUBJECT: PRC/DPRK: SCARLET FEVER, SMUGGLING, BORDER- CROSSERS AND TOURISM IN MAY 2007 REF: A. (A) SHENYANG 31 ¶B. (B) SHENYANG 78 Classified By: ACTING CONSUL GENERAL DAVID BRIZZEE. REASONS: 1.4(B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: PRC authorities in Jilin recently claimed they have taken measures to prevent a scarlet fever outbreak in the DPRK from making its way into China. Though officials would not confirm the outbreak, they privately stressed that they are prepared. South Koreans appear to be playing both direct and indirect roles in the smuggling of North Korean antiquities out of the DPRK as Dandong border authorities pursue a new campaign against cross-border smuggling. PRC officials near Changbai continue to detain and deport North Koreans who are in the area illegally. Chinese tourism to North Korea appears to have resumed an air of greater normalcy following last month's Arirang Festival. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) Poloff traveled nearly half the length of the PRC- DPRK border MaY 7-11, including to Dandong, across from Sinuiju, North Korea; Ji'an, which abuts Manpo; Baishan; Linjiang, which faces Chunggang; and Changbai County, across from Hyesan. This cable supplements ref A, which focused on PRC-DPRK trade developments. JILIN STEELING ITSELF AGAINST SCARLET FEVER IN NORTH KOREA? -------------- -------------- ¶3. (U) In an unusual recent report, the government of the Jilin Province border town of Linjiang, which is linked to Chunggang, North Korea by a bridge, announced on its website in late March that a scarlet fever outbreak in several North Korean cities across from neighboring Changbai County had prompted PRC provincial and local port, quarantine and inspection authorities to take (unspecified) measures to guard against a transmission to China. (NOTE: Across the Yalu River from Changbai County--which shares a 260-kilometer border with the DPRK--is, most importantly, the city of Hyesan, which has a fairly sizable population compared to other DPRK border localities. END NOTE.) ¶4. (C) In an unofficial meeting with Poloff on May 10, high-level officials from Changbai's Customs, Quarantine and Port of Entry Administration offices seemed to play coy when asked about the outbreak, claiming they could not confirm the information. The Deputy Director of Changbai Quarantine, however, noted that Changbai port authorities are prepared to guard against scarlet fever if need be. He noted, for instance, that quarantine personnel already disinfect the tires of incoming cars from Hyesan. More generally, they also inspect lumber imports from North Korea for worms, as well as search for infectious diseases among human and animals, though he offered little in the way of specifics on any of these measures. Asked how regularly Changbai authorities communicated with their North Korean counterparts across the river about common concerns (i.e., public health issues),he replied that their annual Lunar New Year party is effectively their only exchange each year. SMUGGLING: DPRK ANTIQUES, ROK DEMAND, PRC COUNTERMEASURES -------------- -------------- ¶5. (C) South Koreans are playing both direct and indirect roles in the smuggling of North Korean antiquities into China (see reftel for background) in and near Dandong. In Dandong proper on May 7, Poloff spoke at length with a South Korean who claimed to be involved in such smuggling. The individual had moved from Pusan to Dandong, where he bought a stall at the Hualian antiques/souvenir market, near the city's land port. The South Korean explained that, working through his South Korean partner and Chinese intermediaries, he regularly smuggles North Korean antiques (mostly porcelain and light furniture) into China, where he in turn sells the pieces primarily to ROK tourists and collectors. The DPRK prohibits the legal export of antiques, he said, so smuggling is his only option; and ROK demand for quality, authentic North Korean antiques is SHENYANG 00000102 002 OF 002 high, he added. He typically sends the better pieces (he did not say how) to the ROK, where they can usually fetch 3 to 4 times--and sometimes up to 10 times--his costs in procuring the items, he noted, earning him a healthy profit. He typically reserves the less expensive items for his shop (which featured both reproduction and authentic items ranging from USD 20-200),aimed at visiting South Korean tourists. ¶6. (C) Official PRC media over the past two months have stepped up publicity about a new several-month-long anti- smuggling campaign launched by the Dandong Border Defense corps. The campaign primarily seeks to combat illegal cross-border fishing in the neighboring Yellow Sea, but has also involved an associated crackdown on "illegal border trade" and smuggling. Media reports have noted some successes in seizing some of the unlicensed fishing boats and motorboats often used by smugglers. But small-scale smugglers in Dandong continue to admit only minor concern (see ref B). Poloff on May 7, for instance, encountered a small-scale smuggler based on Dandong's waterfront who showed Poloff a copper mirror (RMB 200; USD 25) and what appeared to be several reproduction vases (RMB 200-300, USD 25-40) he claimed to have procured from the North Korean side the previous night. The man shrugged dismissively when asked about the campaign. BORDER-CROSSERS: ANECODTAL EVIDENCE -------------- ¶7. (C) Poloff encountered conflicting anecdotal information about North Korean border-crossers in Ji'an, Linjiang and Changbai County--China's sole autonomous ethnic Korean county. Changbai's Party Secretary, MIAO Chunxiu (protect) and officials from the Changbai Foreign Affairs Office (FAO),for instance, claimed in separate meetings with Poloff May 10-11 that the area had seen "very few" North Korean border-crossers recently, in contrast to the 1990s, at which time Changbai received, fed and "returned" them to North Korea. But in Linjiang on May 9, Poloff on the city's waterfront promenade spotted a sign--dated August 2005--warning residents that it was "strictly prohibited" to offer food or shelter to "border-crossers." Party Secretary Miao on May 10 told Poloff that Changbai County SIPDIS officials continue to apprehend and repatriate North Koreans, pursuant to a PRC-DPRK treaty. The Director of the Changbai Port of Entry Administration told Poloff later the same day that Changbai port is not used for such repatriations, which usually took place through other ports. ¶8. (C) Several hundred kilometers further south of Changbai County near Ji'an--which sits across from Manpo--a fisherman in a remote rural section of Laohushao told Poloff on May 9 that the area near his home on the Yalu had seen no border-crossers over the past year. A thirty-year resident of the area, he noted, however, that DPRK border guards stationed further upstream occasionally crossed over to the Chinese side at night to beg for food. PRC TOURISM TO NORTH KOREA ON ITS WAY TO NORMALCY? -------------- -------------- ¶9. (C) Piggybacking on the opening in tourism brought about by the Arirang Festival last month, PRC tourism to North Korea appears to have resumed an air of greater normalcy following a long freeze starting last year. In Dandong, for instance, the state-run Dandong Overseas International Travel Service (DOITS) was in early May offering 4-day tours to North Korea for RMB 2500 (USD 325) for Chinese citizens, though prices for foreigners--Americans and South Koreans excluded--are nearly twice as expensive. According to a manager at DOITS, lead time of 10-15 days is needed to negotiate with North Korean authorities. 1-day tours to Sinuiju, however, are still prohibited, she said, as they have been for several years now. BRIZZEE