politics
North Korea lifts return ban on its own citizens
Inner-Korean border in the demilitarized zone at Panmunjom. photo
© epa Jeon Heon-Kyun/EPA/dpa
“Citizens of the People’s Republic abroad are allowed to return home”: North Korea has lifted the ban on returning imposed under the corona pandemic.
The returnees are reportedly being placed in quarantine stations under medical observation for a week. How many people are affected remained unclear. Observers in South Korea assume that more North Korean diplomats, workers and students would make their way home.
International flights are operating again
The country, which is largely sealed off, had already used aircraft from the state company Air Koryo in international scheduled services in the past few days and allowed flights to China and Russia. The South Korean news agency Yonhap reported from Beijing on Tuesday that numerous North Koreans had stood at the Air Koryo check-in counter in the capital’s airport for a flight back to Pyongyang.
The communist leadership in North Korea had already completely closed the national borders at the beginning of 2020 because of the pandemic. Although she announced a relaxation of her “maximum virus prevention system” a year ago, the national borders remained largely closed with the exception of freight train traffic with China.