People are going about their daily lives mask-free following the lifting of the mask mandate in North Korea’s border regions, Daily NK has learned.
“All workplaces in the city of Hyesan received an order on Friday from the State Emergency Anti-epidemic Command announcing the lifting of the mask mandate from Saturday,” a source in Yanggang Province told Daily NK on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity. “People in Hyesan have been going around without masks since Saturday.”
The lifting of the mask mandate in the border regions comes about 11 months after it was lifted in more interior regions of the country. The authorities lifted mask mandates and permitted facilities to normalize their operations outside of regions along the China-North Korea border and the inter-Korean DMZ when it brought its maximum emergency epidemic prevention system to a close on Aug. 13, 2022.
In the country’s border regions, the authorities had maintained intensive quarantine protocols due to the risk posed by COVID-19. This past Saturday, however, marked the loosening of intensive measures to prevent the spread of the virus.
North Korea has yet to officially announce the lifting of pandemic-related restrictions in regions along the borders. However, video footage or photos in North Korea’s official media show people attending events without masks, in contrast to images published last month.
Lifting of mask mandate welcomed by many
Residents of Hyesan are reportedly quite pleased that they can go about their daily lives without masks from this month.
“People were very unhappy about having to buy masks and then go around suffocating in them in hot weather, but they are pleased that they no longer have to buy them or wear them starting in July,” the source said.
In fact, some Hyesan residents had been using single-use masks for over 10 days or fashioning masks from used clothing because they could not afford to do otherwise.
People had long expressed unhappiness with the neverending intensive quarantine protocols. Some were subject to fines when they were caught on the streets without masks after forgetting them at home, the source said.
With the lifting of the mask mandate, expectations regarding the rumored full-scale restart of trade are rising once again, he said.
“People are saying that with the lifting of the mask mandate, the authorities have no reason to keep the customs house closed. They are hoping for a quick reopening of the border because the most pressing problem they face is earning a living.”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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