North Korea Builds Massive Border Wall During Pandemic

North Korea has built hundreds of kilometers of new or upgraded border fences, walls and guard posts along its northern frontier with China and Russia since the pandemic began, cutting off routes plied by smugglers and defectors. The sealing of the border is likely to have lasting effects, including for North Korea’s nascent mercantile class and in the towns where thriving informal trade previously offered many people, particularly women, a chance to make their own way. Only 67 defectors made it to South Korea last year, compared with 1,047 in 2019, official data show.