Hwanggumpyong Island
North Korea · Asia
About
Hwanggumpyong (simplified, traditional, pinyin: Huángjīnpíng), formerly called Hwanggumpyong Island (simplified, traditional, pinyin: Huángjīnpíng Dǎo), is a North Korean free-trade zone bordering China. The area used to be a tidal island in the Yalu River. However, due to continuous deposition of river-borne sediments, the northern portion of the former island is now permanently connected with the Chinese city of Dandong. A steel mesh fence has been built to mark the land border between North Korea and China. Due to ethnic Koreans living on the island at the time of a 1962 border treaty, both China and North Korea agreed that the sovereignty of the island belongs to North Korea. The former river island is now a North Korean exclave on the otherwise Chinese side of the river. The agreement is not recognized by South Korea, who continues to claim this island in accordance with its constitution.
Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.