North Korea amends trade law after boosting imports from China - NK News
Leaders of North Korea’s top lawmaking body amended and enacted laws on trade and the distribution of construction material in a meeting on Friday, according to state media, in what could be a precursor to further trade resumption.
The Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly, led by Choe Ryong Hae, agreed on “expanding and developing all trade activities in the direction to promote the independent development of the national economy and further tightening the centralized, unified guidance and control over trade,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Sunday.
North Korea closed its borders to most trade in Jan. 2020 to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but it has allowed some trade via cargo ships and just this month restarted imports from China by train after halting such trade in mid-2020.
Authorities appeared to facilitate the rail trade restart by passing a law on disinfecting imports in March 2021 and transforming an airport near the Chinese border into a large-scale import disinfection and quarantine center throughout the year.
This week’s law change could be a sign of further trade expansion, as North Korea has also built apparent disinfection facilities at many of its seaports and near its land border with Russia since the start of the pandemic.
State media did not release further details on the new changes to the law on trade.
The SPA Standing Committee also adopted the “DPRK law on supplying cement to the construction of cities and counties” on Friday, an apparent follow-on from party decisions at a late-Dec. 2021 plenum on boosting rural construction.
At the plenum, DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and the party announced a new policy meant to “open a great new era of achieving a radical development of the socialist countryside of Korean style.”
The state-run Voice of Korea (VOK) reported on Saturday that provincial officials across the country were busy drawing up designs for new housing developments and plans for “revitalizing building materials production bases.”
In addition, the SPA meeting amended the law on the national flag in order to clarify hoisting ceremony procedures and recalled and elected judges of the Central Court, without naming the individuals removed or added to the court.
The SPA is scheduled to hold a full session next week on Feb. 6, which is expected to disclose further details on the state budget, construction plans and status of various economic sectors. Kim Jong Un has given policy speeches at some SPA meetings in the past, but has not attended every session.
Edited by Bryan Betts
source: https://www.nknews.org/2022/01/north-korea-amends-trade-law-after-boosting-imports-from-china/
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