Chinese company learns North Korea is a difficult place to do business

A Chinese mining corporation has decided to go public about its dispute with a North Korean business, taking to China’s micro-blogging service to denounce the "nightmare" of doing business there." Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV reports that the company, Xinyang, entered into a contract with a North Korean company to mine iron ore: "Regrettably, according to ...

Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images
Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images
Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images

A Chinese mining corporation has decided to go public about its dispute with a North Korean business, taking to China’s micro-blogging service to denounce the "nightmare" of doing business there." Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV reports that the company, Xinyang, entered into a contract with a North Korean company to mine iron ore:

"Regrettably, according to Xiyang Group’s microblog and blog…the North Koreans kicked them out after an unresolvable dispute. In March, North Korean security officials forcibly sent the ten remaining Xiyang employees back to China. In other words, the $37 million they invested in North Korea disappeared."

The TV announcer smirks a few times throughout the broadcast, as if he’s wondering what the company expected when they entered into a business arrangement in North Korea.

Isaac Stone Fish is a journalist and senior fellow at the Asia Society’s Center on U.S-China Relations. He was formerly the Asia editor at Foreign Policy Magazine. Twitter: @isaacstonefish

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