Sinuiju Special Administrative Region

Sinŭiju Special Administrative Region
Flag Seal
(1) Map of Sinuiju Special Administrative Region highlighted in red and (2) location within North Korea
Country	North Korea
Region	Kwansŏ
Government
• Type	Special Administrative Region with its own Basic Law
Area
• Total	132 km2 (51 sq mi)
Population  (1998 (est.))
• Total	349,500
• Density	2,600/km2 (6,900/sq mi)
Dialect	P'yŏngan
Split from North P'yŏngan in 2002.

Sinuiju Special Administrative Region (Korean: 신의주 특별 행정구) was a planned special administrative region (SAR) of North Korea based in the city of Sinuiju. Proclaimed in 2002, the SAR was envisioned to be directly governed as in the case of "Directly Governed Cities" but has yet to be put into de facto operation.

Proposals for a special economic zone in Sinuiju to introduce market economics were first proposed to Chinese-Dutch businessman Yang Bin in 2001, who was proposed to be the zone's director. Yang later accepted the proposal on several conditions; most importantly, rather than a SEZ, the proposed area would become a special administrative region, emulating China's special administrative regions (SARs) of Hong Kong and Macau. Under this proposal, the Sinuiju SAR would have its own "Basic Law" (기본법; Kibonpŏp), passport, flag and seal, and have large autonomy in all areas except foreign policy and defense. Though reluctant, North Korean officials eventually acceded to Yang's proposals.

In 2002, the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly promulgated the Basic Law of the Sinuiju SAR and appointed Yang Bin as its governor. However, before Yang assumed office, he was arrested by Chinese authorities and sentenced to 18 years in prison for tax evasion and other economic crimes. Afterwards, North Korea effectively abandoned the project.