China-North Korea trains to resume after six-year halt following Covid outbreak

Passenger train services between China and North Korea are to resume this week, six years after their suspension due to the Covid-19 pandemic, travel operators have said.

Train journeys between the two countries were halted in 2020 as they imposed strict border closures to prevent the virus spreading.

China has since fully reopened its borders, but North Korea has proceeded more slowly – though direct flights and train services with Russia resumed last year.

Travel agents for official ticketing booths in Beijing and the Chinese border city of Dandong on Tuesday said that Chinese people working and studying in North Korea were now able to buy train tickets to the diplomatically isolated nation, with the first service leaving on Thursday.

North Koreans working, studying and visiting family abroad were also able to purchase tickets, they said. However, tourists are not yet eligible to buy tickets.

“It’s great to see the international train service resuming,” Rowan Beard, tours manager at Young Pioneer Tours, told Agence France-Presse. He confirmed his company, one of several foreign-run firms that specialises in travel to North Korea, could also organise tickets from Thursday.

“While it isn’t initially intended for tourists, it will provide another travel option once tourism to North Korea eventually returns, serving as an alternative to flying,” Beard said.

China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun did not confirm the reports when asked by reporters at a media briefing on Tuesday.

South Korea’s unification ministry said in a statement that “we understand that the Pyongyang-Beijing international train service is set to resume operations on March 12, and we will continue to closely monitor related developments”.

China is historically North Korea’s biggest backer and a crucial lifeline for its moribund economy, though Pyongyang has drawn closer to Russia since the start of the Ukraine war.

Pyongyang’s reclusive authorities have given mixed signals on whether further openings are ion the cards.

On Monday, Koryo Tours said North Korea had cancelled an international marathon in its capital, Pyongyang, originally scheduled for early next month, citing an official statement with no explanation for the decision.

The cancellation was unexpected, the company said, adding it understood the decision had been “taken at a level above the organisers of the event itself”.

The marathon is the largest international sporting event in North Korea, offering visitors a rare chance to run through Pyongyang’s tightly controlled streets.