North Korea announced that its citizens abroad have been allowed to return home after three years that the country sealed its borders. However, experts suggest the country is not prepared to reopen its borders fully due to a lack of vaccinations and a fragile health system.
North Korea has allowed citizens stranded abroad by its strict Covid curbs to return home, state media reported Sunday, as the country moves towards a full reopening after three years of pandemic isolation.
The country had sealed its borders since early 2020 to protect itself from COVID-19, preventing even its nationals from returning.
But there have been increasing signs of a shift in border control in recent weeks, including the resumption of international commercial air travel.
In a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, the State Emergency Epidemic Prevention Headquarters said North Korean citizens abroad had been allowed to return home in line with “the eased worldwide pandemic situation.”
“Those returned will be put under proper medical observation at quarantine wards for a week,” it added.
Last month, high-level Chinese and Russian delegations visited Pyongyang for a key anniversary celebration, the first foreign dignitaries allowed to visit the country in years.
Despite the signs of easing its pandemic isolation, analysts say North Korea is not yet ready to fully reopen its borders.
“First, North Koreans have not been vaccinated,” said Cho Han-bum, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification.
He added, Pyongyang was likely frightened by the “collapse” of China’s medical system after its abrupt decision last December to end its three-year zero-Covid policy.
North Korea has a crumbling health system, one of the worst in the world, and no COVID-19 vaccines, antiviral treatment drugs, or mass testing capacity, and Cho said the situation was expected to be far worse.
The one-week quarantine for returning citizens suggests that tourism to North Korea will be resumed for a while, added Cheong of the Sejong Institute.
Miroslava Salazar, with AFP
