North Korea has officially approved the entry of its citizens staying abroad after years of border restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In a statement carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) on Sunday, the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters said that North Korean citizens abroad have been allowed to return home in line with its adjustment of the anti-epidemic degree following the eased worldwide pandemic situation. 

The statement said that those returned will be put under proper medical observation at quarantine wards for a week.

The announcement came after three Air Koryo passenger flights from Pyongyang landed in Beijing last week for the first time since pandemic lockdowns began in 2020. 

The flights reportedly carried back North Koreans who had been stuck in China by the years of border closures.

With the North's adjustment of the anti-epidemic degree, more North Koreans staying abroad, such as China and Russia, are expected to return home.

[Photo : YONHAP News]