North Korean citizens abroad are allowed to return home after more than 3 years

North Korean state media said on August 26 that the country has officially allowed its citizens abroad to re-enter after more than three years of border closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Overseas DPRK citizens have been allowed to return to the country, following a decision by the State Emergency Anti-epidemic Headquarters to adjust the level of anti-epidemic measures in line with the easing of the pandemic situation worldwide,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

The returnees will be kept under medical observation in quarantine facilities for a week, the statement said, without specifying the locations of the quarantine centers. Satellite images show that North Korea has built up to 50 Covid-19 quarantine facilities across the country since the pandemic began.

World - North Korean citizens abroad are allowed to return after more than 3 years — North Koreans line up at the check-in counter of Air Koryo, the national airline of North Korea, at Beijing Capital International Airport on August 22. Photo: Korea Times/Yonhap

North Korea's move comes after the country resumed commercial flights with China and Russia.

On August 22, an Air Koryo passenger plane landed at Beijing Shoudu Airport, China. This is the first time a North Korean flight has landed there since January 2020. Another plane also arrived in Beijing on August 24 and is believed to have carried hundreds of North Korean passengers back to the country.

On August 26, the FlightRadar24 plane tracking service showed another Air Koryo plane arriving at Beijing Capital International Airport from Pyongyang Sunan Airport the same morning.

Another North Korean commercial flight arrived in Vladivostok, Russia on the morning of August 25 and returned in the afternoon with many passengers .

Nguyen Tuyet (According to NKNews, Yonhap, Fox Business)

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