This content was published on 16 January 2022 – 09:42
Seoul, Jan 16 (EFE) .- A North Korean freight train crossed the Yalu River railway bridge today towards the Chinese port city of Dandong, in the first land border opening in a year and a half of the peninsular country after its closure to the outside by the pandemic.
The train from the North Korean city of Sinuiju arrived in the Chinese border city around 9:10 a.m. local time (00:10 GMT) on Sunday and was scheduled to return to the North tomorrow, Monday, several sources told the South Korean news agency Yonhap.
Details about the contents of the train, whether it arrived loaded or empty, are unknown, according to the aforementioned sources.
It is the first time that North Korea has formally opened its land borders with China in a year and a half, after the strict closure it undertook in 2020 when the covid-19 pandemic began to spread, which led it to suspend all tourist programs and railway operations for cross-border passengers.
Restaurants and shops run by North Koreans in the Chinese city were closed, as trade between the two countries was also interrupted as a result of the health crisis.
North Korea has so far not reported any cases of covid on its territory to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The resumption of freight train operations could have the objective of supplying essential products for North Korea, whose economy, already hit by international sanctions on account of its weapons development programs, is going through a delicate situation due to the strict closure of borders. .
The country has also suffered, in the last two years, the onslaught of several typhoons and floods that have seriously affected its agricultural crops, worsening the situation.
Beijing is Pyongyang’s main trading partner, which has also seen the entry of foreign currency limited by its closure.
It is unknown if the visit of the North Korean freight train will lead to the resumption of trade between the two countries or if it is a one-off exchange. EFE
co-mra / ig
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