North Korea, China resume cross-border freight train operation, Yonhap reports

SEOUL, Sept 26 (Reuters) – Cross-border freight practice operations between North Korea and China have resumed after a five-month suspension, South Korea’s Yonhap information company reported on Monday.

A freight practice from Dandong crossed a bridge to the North Korean metropolis of Sinuiju, Yonhap mentioned.

Prepare crossings had been on maintain since April 29, when China suspended providers with North Korea following consultations on account of COVID-19 infections in its border metropolis of Dandong. Shortly after, North Korea reported its first COVID outbreak, which it now says has ended.

The April suspension got here lower than 4 months after North Korea eased border lockdowns enforced early in 2020 towards the coronavirus.

International support teams have blamed the border measures for North Korea’s worsening financial woes and dangers to meals provides for hundreds of thousands.

Final month chief Kim Jong Un declared victory over COVID and ordered the lifting of most anti-epidemic measures imposed in Could, although including that North Korea should keep a “steel-strong anti-epidemic barrier”.

North Korea has by no means confirmed how many individuals caught COVID, apparently as a result of it lacks the means to conduct widespread testing, and specialists have forged doubt on its numbers.

Reporting by Soo-hyang Choi; Modifying by Kim Coghill and Kenneth Maxwell

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