North Korea lifts restrictions and allows its overseas citizens to return to the country

North Korea officially announced this Sunday that it has lifted its restrictions linked to the pandemic and that it is already allowing its citizens abroad to return to the country for the first time in more than three years.

“Overseas citizens of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (official country name) have been allowed to return home, following the decision of the State Emergency Epidemic Prevention Center to adjust the anti-epidemic degree in connection with the improvement of the global pandemic situation”the state news agency KCNA announced in a brief notice.

The text adds that “Those who return will be placed under proper medical observation in quarantine spaces for a week.”

The move comes after North Korea resumed commercial flights with China and Russia last week after more than three years of border closures due to the covid-19 pandemic.

Planes of the North Korean national airline, Air Koryo, flew from Pyongyang to Beijing and Vladivostok, where they picked up North Korean citizens to bring them back to the country.

With the end of the strict border closure policy, many North Korean diplomats, students or workers abroad are expected to return.

North Korea seems to be betting on a gradual opening after it allowed access to the territory in July to two diplomatic delegations, one from China and the other from Russia, to participate in the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the armistice of the Korean War (1950- 53).

Earlier this month, the country allowed buses carrying members of the Taekwondo team to cross overland into China, from where they traveled to a tournament in Kazakhstan.

In addition, the hermetic country has also registered seven judokas for the Asian Games that are held in Hangzhou (China) from September 23 to October 8.

Pyongyang decided to apply a strict closure since January 2020 and subsequently reinforced fences and guard posts on its borders, where it gave the order to shoot anyone who approaches the divide, only allowing trade with China by rail and maritime under a strict quarantine system.

The regime had maintained this paranoid approach – which, according to humanitarian organizations, has served to further strengthen its control over the population – even after leader Kim Jong-un declared last year that the virus had been defeated (in 2022 Korea North received batches of vaccines from China, although how many and what type is unknown).

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.