DANDONG, China - When a green-and-yellow train carrying North Korean leader Kim Jong Un rolled slowly over a bridge into the Chinese city of Dandong late Saturday, few locals took notice. Over the past few decades, North Korea has receded into irrelevance as the contrast with China has grown starker and starker. But some in this border city of over 2 million expect that if North Korea opens up, they will be among the first to benefit. On the North Korean side of the river, a tall, round concrete building is under construction — a rare sign of development. He thinks the reason why North Korea struggled while China surged ahead was because of Pyongyang’s overemphasis on military spending.

Source: thestar February 24, 2019 11:55 UTC