chattr +a -V

Sources in Beijing told Yonhap News Agency ... that North Korea issued a directive to close its trade office in Beijing "soon" and another in Dandong within six months. The offices, operated by the North's Korean National Economic Cooperation Federation, help South Korean companies do business with the North. ...

Over 100 South Korean companies engaged in ventures in North Korea are reliant on the trade and investment offices in Beijing and Dandong.

Andong Hemp Textile Co., which was last year the first South Korean company to incorporate a firm in the North, said the report was particularly embarrassing because all of its products from Pyongyang require certification from the North Korean office in Beijing.

"If those products don't have a certificate of origin issued by the Beijing office, they cannot pass customs here," said company official Kim Hyuck in Seoul.

South Korean customs have since last year required all North Korean products imported here to be certified by the North Korean federation. The policy was introduced to prevent Chinese-made goods wearing a North Korean labels being sold in South for higher price. ...

"If they do close, companies may have to go back to the old ways and do business through a third party," said Lee Jong-geun, research fellow at the Korea International Trade Association.