SEOUL, Nov. 11 (UPI) — China is building on its military presence at its border with North Korea, a source in North Korea tells Radio Free Asia.
Beijing is also doing its part to keep out defectors and is constructing more barbed-wire fences, according to the report.
The source in North Hamgyong Province said a large-scale military facility in the Chinese city of Longjing, in Jilin Province, has been under development.
The base faces the Sambong workers’ zone in the North Korean county of Onsong.
Kaishan Tunzhen South Mountain Community, where the base has been under construction since August, is coping with the changes, and local residents are being relocated because of the military, according to the RFA report.
“Heavy equipment and material are being brought in order for building to take place,” the source said.
North Korea is responding to the new measures by deploying about 20 soldiers to monitor the situation from the Sambong workers’ zone.
A Korean-Chinese source in Longjing said the government’s measures are “unprecedented” in the area close to the border.
“The Chinese leadership seems to prepare for the collapse of the North Korean regime,” the source said.
Barbed wire fencing along the border in Yanbian prefecture have been reinforced as well, another source in the area told RFA.
“Fencing that was washed away due to the flooding of the Tumen River and old rusted barbed wire have all been replaced with new barbed wire,” the source said.
The barrier not only keeps out refugees but would also cause trade to diminish.
Authorities are also cracking down on border crimes, which have included murder and burglaries, according to the report.
