China’s state television has said that North Korea has started allowing foreigners to enter on Monday for the first time since it shut down its borders at the start of COVID-19 in early 2020.

China Central Television reported on Monday that visitors will be required to quarantine for two days upon entry, citing North Korean authorities.

The reclusive state, which recently allowed the entry of its citizens from abroad, appears to be fully lifting its border controls about three years and eight months after going into a nationwide lockdown over COVID-19 in January 2020.

This January, North Korea and China resumed cross-border freight train operations from the North’s Sinjuju and the Chinese border city of Dandong.

Recently, the country also sent a team of Taekwondo athletes to Kazakhstan via China as well as a delegation of nearly 200 athletes to the Asian Games in China.

[Photo : YONHAP News]