This photo, taken from the North’s Korean Central TV footage, shows people without face masks in an auditorium on July 4, 2023. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, July 4 (Korea Bizwire) — North Korea, which had maintained its rigid COVID-19 restrictions long after most countries eased pandemic measures, appears to have lifted its mask mandate this month, state media footage and photos showed Tuesday.
News footage that aired on the North’s Korean Central TV on Monday showed hundreds of young people seated close to one another without face masks at a theater in North Hamgyong Province.
Photos released by the Rodong Sinmum, the North’s main newspaper, on Tuesday, showed officials at a publishing bureau in the same North Korean province without face masks.
Similar photos taken at various venues also showed people not wearing face masks, with the exception of farmers spraying pesticides and medical workers at a hospital.
This has led to the view that North Korea, which had maintained its border lockdown and strict antivirus measures despite deepening economic hardships, may have finally lifted its mask mandate.
An official at Seoul’s unification ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said that while additional monitoring is necessary, North Korea could have taken the measure out of a “realistic need.”
“Photos carried by the Rodong Sinmun show that the wearing of face masks has notably declined since July 3. They are only worn in extremely rare cases,” the ministry official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“After carrying out intensive COVID-19 measures for nearly 3 1/2 years, it can be presumed there is a realistic need to ease this,” the official said, also referring to the secretive regime’s plan to take part in the Asian Games in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou and reports that it may soon reopen its border.
U.S. broadcaster Radio Free Asia quoted sources in the North Korean province of North Pyongan as saying that authorities ordered residents to take off their masks this month.
But it remains uncertain whether the change is here to stay. The U.S. media outlet reported that authorities said it is a temporary measure aimed at preventing skin and eye diseases that could occur while wearing face masks in the summer.
(Yonhap)
