For “citizens abroad”
North Korea is easing its corona entry bans
8/27/2023 9:04 am
North Korea is slowly dropping its corona measures. After the first isolated easing, the regime announces the next step: North Koreans who live abroad are allowed to enter the country again. The reason for this is the global pandemic situation.
North Korea has largely lifted the strict entry rules imposed in the wake of the corona pandemic for its citizens living abroad. The state headquarters for epidemic prevention announced that “citizens abroad are allowed to return home,” the state news agency KCNA reported.
The decision was made against the background of the “relaxed global pandemic situation”. According to the report, returnees are “under medical observation in quarantine stations for a week”.
North Korea was already largely isolated internationally, but in the wake of the corona pandemic at the beginning of 2020, the country sealed itself off almost completely. After three years, there were increasing signs of a possible opening. In July, Chinese and Russian officials took part in a large military parade in Pyongyang. They were the first foreign dignitaries to be seen in the country in years.
Last week, North Korean authorities also approved a taekwondo team to compete in Kazakhstan. The first scheduled flight from North Korea in more than three years landed in Beijing on Tuesday. Another flight operated by North Korean airline Air Koryo departed for Pyongyang on Saturday, according to a flight-tracking website. South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency also published photos of North Koreans queuing to check in their luggage for that flight.