Seoul, August 27: North Korea, after reopening its borders after more than three years of strict coronavirus restrictions, has lifted an entry ban imposed on its citizens residing abroad due to coronavirus fears, state media reported Sunday.
According to the Korean Central News Agency, “North Korean citizens abroad were allowed to return home,” as it decided to “adjust the degree of anti-epidemic in reference to the easing of the epidemic situation around the world.”
It added that those who return home will be placed under “appropriate medical observation in quarantine wards for a week,” Yonhap News Agency quoted KCNA as saying.
The move came 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.
Flights operated by Air Koryo, North Korea’s national carrier, arrived in Beijing and Vladivostok from Pyongyang last week, repatriating North Koreans living there.
With the entry ban lifted, more North Korean diplomats, workers and students staying in foreign countries are expected to return to the North.
North Korea, which closed its borders in January 2020, imposed “extreme emergency anti-epidemic” measures in May 2022, when the country reported its first case of COVID-19.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared victory over the COVID-19 crisis in August last year, claiming the end of the pandemic in the country. But North Korea has kept its borders tightly closed while resuming freight by train and truck with China and Russia only last year.
In July, the secretive regime invited senior Chinese and Russian officials to the military parade, the first known foreign visitor to the country since Pyongyang’s borders were closed.
North Korean buses carrying dozens of taekwondo players crossed the border into China earlier this month to participate in the World Taekwondo Championships organized by the International Taekwondo Federation in Kazakhstan.
North Korea has also registered seven judokas to compete in the Asian Games, which will be held in Hangzhou, China, from September 23 to October 8.
Source: IANS
Disclaimer: This story has not been edited by the WBSETCL team and is auto-generated from syndicated feed.
