A Russian delegation led by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has arrived in North Korea, to be joined by a Chinese delegation later on Wednesday.
They will attend Pyongyang’s celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, marked typically by massive military parades.
The visits are the first of their kind to the North since it shut its borders to try to keep out the pandemic.
It is unclear if this signals a change in Pyongyang’s border policies.
Reclusive North Korea had sealed itself off from all trade and diplomatic ties in early 2020, even with Russia and China, its main economic and political partners.
They even cut off imports of essential goods like food and medicine.
North Korea has been facing food shortages, which have been made worse by its border closure and strict international sanctions that have been imposed because of its nuclear programme.
Some analysts say the inclusion of Chinese and Russian envoys in this year’s “Victory Day” parade – as the 1953 Korean armistice is called in the North – hints at a possible loosening of Covid restrictions.
It comes weeks after images of North Koreans walking around without masks were shown on state media.
The Russian delegation arrived in North Korea late on Tuesday, and received a warm welcome on the tarmac at an airport in Pyongyang.
Source: bbc.com
