North Korea's mask imports from China plunged 78 percent in May from a month earlier, as the North appears to have recently lifted its mask mandate.

According to data released by the General Administration of Customs of China on Sunday, the North's mask imports from China marked 28-thousand-746 dollars in May, down 78 percent from a month earlier, the lowest in seven months since August of last year.

The figure plunged 93 percent from October last year, when it peaked at over 385-thousand dollars.

The drop comes amid reports that North Korea appears to have lifted the face mask mandate this month.

Last week, footage by the North’s state broadcaster, Korean Central Television, showed hundreds of young people in a theater in North Hamgyong Province on Sunday without masks.

These changes are raising speculation that North Korea is likely to open its borders soon and resume personnel and other exchanges with China and other nations.