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China and North Korea reopen rail link after 2-year coronavirus closure
- Line between Dandong in China and Sinuiju in North Korea back in business
- Pyongyang suspended operations in January, 2020, and imposed some of the world’s strictest containment measures
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North Korea has resumed railway cargo transport with China after a two-year halt in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Chinese foreign ministry confirmed on Monday.
Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said that “following friendly consultations between both sides” the railway between Dandong in China and Sinuiju in North Korea reopened.
“The two sides will work to facilitate normal trade between China and North Korea on the basis of guaranteeing epidemic prevention and safety,” Zhao said, when asked about a report that a train from North Korea arrived in Dandong on the weekend.
Both countries tried to reopen the border in November but abandoned those efforts when a new Covid-19 case was detected in Dandong.
The Dandong-Sinuiju railway across the Yalu River is the main trading route connecting China with North Korea, which is struggling with food and medicine shortages and has been hit by United Nations sanctions.
China is North Korea’s main supplier, accounting for over 90 per cent of the isolated country’s international trade, but the lifeline had been closed since January 2020, when Covid-19 began to spread across China.
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