Hwanggumpyong Island
# Hwanggumpyong Island

Hwanggumpyong (Korean: 황금평, simplified Chinese: 黄金坪; traditional Chinese: 黃金坪; pinyin: Huángjīnpíng), formerly called Hwanggumpyong Island (Korean: 황금평도, simplified Chinese: 黄金坪岛; traditional Chinese: 黃金坪島; pinyin: Huángjīnpíng Dǎo), is a North Korean free-trade area 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.

## History

In June 2011, an agreement, negotiated by Gao Jingde, of Sunbase International Holdings Ltd, with China was made to establish a joint free-trade area on Hwanggumpyong and Wihwa Islands, as well as the Chinese border area near Dandong. By 2013, the site had been prepared, and a free-trade area of over 300 acres (120 ha) may be ready for operation in about two years.

As of 2019, the free-trade area has not been very successful.

