Hwanggumpyong Island

Hwanggumpyong, also known as Hwanggumpyong Island, is a North Korean free-trade zone near the Chinese border. The northern section of the old island, however, is now permanently connected to the Chinese metropolis Dandong due to the ongoing deposition of river-borne sediments. The territorial boundary between North Korea and China is marked by a steel mesh fence. Because ethnic Koreans were on the island when the 1962 boundary treaty was signed, both China and North Korea agreed that the island belonged to North Korea. On the otherwise Chinese side of the river, the old river island is now a North Korean exclave.

In June 2011, Sunbase International Holdings Ltd's Gao Jingde reached a deal with China to construct a joint free-trade zone on the Hwanggumpyong and Wihwa Islands, as well as the Chinese border territory near Dandong. By 2013, the land had been prepped, and a free-trade zone covering more than 300 acres (120 hectares) might be operational in two years.

Location: Yalu River, North Korea

Area: 11.45 km2