North Korea has leased a pier on its port located near China and Russia to Switzerland, a source said Tuesday, citing an unidentified Chinese government official.
North Korea has already leased two other piers on Rajin port to China and Russia, and various consultations are also under way for three other piers, according to the source who has knowledge on the North Korean economy.
The port, located in a North Korean special economic zone known as Rason, provides China with an export route to other countries. The North has striven to develop Rason into a regional transportation hub since 1991, but no major progress has been made.
Last week, North Korea and China broke ground for their joint project to develop Rason as an economic and trade zone.
The source said details of the North's lease to Switzerland have not been confirmed. On Monday, a Swiss Foreign Ministry delegation arrived in Pyongyang, the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported in a brief dispatch, without elaborating.
A South Korean official said that the North's lease to Switzerland has not been confirmed.
China has secured the right to use a pier on Rajin port for 10 years while Russia has secured the right to use another port for 50 years, according to South Korean officials.
The North in January also put in place a law on maritime disputes to deal with possible legal problems with foreign companies as Pyongyang is developing Rajin port as a logistics hub, according to the South Korean official.
The move "appears to be aimed at dispelling perceptions among Chinese companies that a dispute may not be easily resolved through a legal process, the official said on condition of anonymity, citing policy.
Meanwhile, the source also said some European companies plan to invest in Rajin port as well as Hwanggumphyong, an island that sits at the estuary of the Yalu River.
North Korea and China held ceremonies last week to break ground for Hwanggumphyong and adjacent Wihwa islands to develop them as a separate economic zone.
The latest move came on the heels of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's weeklong trip to China in May to study Beijing's economic reform that lifted millions of Chinese out of poverty and helped the country become the world's second-largest economy.