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NAKHODKA, Russia – Vasily Kolchanov always shows up for work every morning, even though he has little to do these days. Last month, the United States sanctioned him for helping North Korea to buy oil.
"Should I shoot myself? Or no, I should not shoot at myself, "said Kolchanov, a shipping agent, behind his bushy mustache in this port in Nakhodka, Russia's Far East.
A North Korean refrigerated cargo ship approached. Kolchanov, 72, was hoping that he would bring much needed work to his company, which provides document logistics and other services.
"Koreans are our last hope to stay fed," he said in his office, on the ground floor of a Soviet-era building where sheets and underwear hang down. balconies.
Seven time zones and 4,000 miles from Moscow – or 100 minutes flying from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang -, the fate of the Russian Far East is tied to the diplomacy that is taking place on the Korean Peninsula and in Washington.
A result that opens North Korea to more trade and investment could be a boon to places such as Nakhodka, just 115 miles from the North Korean border. In fact, the region is so close that Kim Jong Un's regime rocked last year's nuclear test.
The region's ties with Korea have deep roots – and tragic ones.
Before the Second World War, some 170,000 ethnic Koreans lived in the Russian Far East. Stalin considered them a liability because Japan occupied Korea at the time. He had almost all loaded them on trains and transferred them to Central Asia.
Now, South Korean tourism in the Russian Far East is booming, marketed as a "European getaway two hours away." More than 70,000 South Korean tourists arrived in the first half of this year.
The North Korean authorities are flocking to the Far East to find ways to boost trade despite sanctions. At a festival held this month to celebrate North Korea's 70th year, young women in traditional dress were selling sweets, cosmetics and the North Korean version of Viagra.
"Please, buy something!" Said Cha Jaegon, an organizer of the fair from Pyongyang for the occasion.
Views of Nakhodka, an industrial port city located in the Russian Far East and east of the Trans-Siberian rail system of Russia. (Photo by Anton Troianovski / The Washington Post)
[[[[A massive spike in oil smuggling eases pressure on North Korea.
The Russians, on the other hand, lament the fact that international economic pressures against the Kim regime are pushing back the inexpensive North Korean labor force that is the backbone of construction in the Russian Far East.
The Kremlin has invited North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in to attend a regional economic forum earlier this month in Vladivostok, the largest city in the Russian Far East. Neither one nor the other has presented itself.
But many of the discussions focused on the ongoing openings in the Korean peninsula, recently crowned by a summit in Pyongyang between Kim and Moon. During a session in Vladivostok, North Korean and South Korean officials presented ideas for rail links between South Korea and Trans-Siberian, which would significantly reduce travel time for South Korean products to Europe .
Earlier this month, the seafront of Vladivostok had martial melodies and triumphant chords. The celebration of the anniversary of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea – the official name of North Korea – was in full swing, with a giant video screen venerating the leader Kim.
The kiosks were decorated with Russian and North Korean flags.
Curious South Koreans have visited the fair, some of them having received personal tutorials on the North Korean history of Jong Song Ho, the head of the North Korean delegation, dressed in black and white. an elegant blue suit, aviator sunglasses and rulers.
Thousands of North Koreans live in Russia near the border, including families of diplomats based in the Vladivostok consulate, employees of North Korean restaurants in Vladivostok and workers subcontractors to Russian companies.
Yet Li Almaz, a South Korean who runs a tourism business in Vladivostok and has been living there for five years, said he had no North Korean friends.
"They are afraid," he said.
Sanctions frustrate local business leaders, but some seek to take advantage of the region's proximity to North Korea.
Valentin Pak, a politician and local businessman, has turned a room in his office into a storage space for unapproved North Korean consumer goods, which he hopes to sell to the Russians.
They include items as simple as a four-inch-tall figure of a pig disguised as a North Korean pilot. The ears are fixed asymmetrically. The badge on the red sleeve was printed on paper and cut with scissors. The nose is composed of two unequal points with a marker.
It will cost about $ 3, Pak said.
"It's a matter of revenue for them," Pak said of North Koreans.
The United States alleges that North Korea uses the Russian Far East as a hub of illegal trade to circumvent the sanctions imposed by the United States, which Russia voted last year and that she now wants to soften.
In August, the US Treasury sanctioned two shipping companies in Vladivostok for their participation in the practice.
A week later, the Treasury imposed sanctions on Kolchanov and his small shipping agency, Profinet.
"Kolchanov has been personally involved in North Korean-related matters and has directly interacted with North Korean officials in Russia," a Treasury statement to the Washington Post said.
As a shipping agent, Kolchanov manages the receipt of documents necessary for ships to enter and leave the port, collect fees and resolve last-minute problems on board.
Kolchanov admits that he often does business with North Korea but insists that he has done nothing illegal.
When the sanctions were struck, said Kolchanov, six empty North Korean oil tankers, who were his customers, were entering or were already in the port of Vladivostok. He serves them all six, but he says they're all gone without getting any oil. He submitted commercial documents supposed to back up his account.
Kolchanov believes that these six ships caused him problems with the Treasury, which mentioned "at least six separate occasions" where it served North Korean-flagged vessels. A Treasury official declined to detail further why he punished Kolchanov, but said that the department had the authority to punish people "operating in the energy or transportation industries of the country". North Korean economy "since 2016.
Kolchanov said he will continue to do business with North Korea, as his other foreign customers have greatly reduced their ties.
"These are our neighbors, is not it?" Said Kolchanov about North Korea. "You must be friends with your neighbors."
John Hudson in Washington and Min Joo Kim in Seoul contributed to this report.
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