North Korea finalizing reopening of rail routes with China: Seoul

Seoul, Nov 4 (EFE).- North Korea is in the final phase of preparations to reopen its rail routes with China, a South Korean official said Thursday.

The country’s borders were sealed shut in early 2020 under Pyongyang’s extensive measures to keep out Covid-19.

“Our assessment is that various preparations for the resumption of goods exchange through train routes are at the final stage,” an unnamed unification ministry official said, according to Yonhap news agency.

In recent days, satellite images have shown activity around North Korea’s rail connections with China and Russia, suggesting that the regime is willing to reopen these land routes.

For months, satellites have also detected the construction of facilities that appear to be destined for quarantine facilities.

The aforementioned official indicated that the regime is expected to first resume only cargo transportation by rail.

Pyongyang has banned the entry of people coming from abroad since the beginning of 2020 as part of its efforts to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the country.

Its meticulous measures to prevent contagion also affected imports (90 percent of which come from China), which were almost non-existent in the last quarter of last year and have been gradually recovering through the recent reopening of maritime routes.

These sea routes have also been used to receive aid from international organizations after many months in which it was impossible to provide medicines and other supplies. EFE

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