Photos suggest North has finally lifted mask mandate

Recent images and video footage in North Korea's state media suggest the country has lifted its mask mandate as of July after years of strict Covid-19 restrictions.

North Koreans appear without masks in a photograph of a publishing management bureau in North Hamgyong Province released by the North’s official Rodong Sinmum on Tuesday. [RODONG SINMUN]

Recent images and video footage in North Korea's state media suggest the country has lifted its mask mandate as of July after years of strict Covid-19 restrictions.

A series of photos released by North Korean state media Tuesday showed ordinary people and officials at various events seated close together without face coverings, prompting experts to say Pyongyang may have finally lifted mask mandates starting this month.

In January 2020, North Korea quickly shut its border in response to the coronavirus pandemic and has maintained strict social distancing, longer than neighboring countries.

The lifting of mask mandates could signal that North Korea is finally ready to reopen its borders.

A photo released by the North's official Rodong Sinmum on Tuesday of a publishing management bureau in North Hamgyong Province showed all eight officials masks-free.

Similarly, North Koreans in photographs taken at a revolutionary history museum in North Hamgyong Province and the Kim Jong Suk Textile Mill in Pyongyang were also without masks.

Likewise, a video aired on the state-run Korean Central Television on Monday showed an auditorium in North Hamgyong Province packed with hundreds of young people seated close to one another without any masks or social distancing.

Images of people at events and venues this week have shown mask-free people, with the exception of photos taken at higher-risk venues such as Kim Man Yu Hospital in Pyongyang or farm workers spraying pesticides in Sunan, Pyongyang.

This contrasts with a photo released on Friday, which showed all five people at the Pyongyang Mechanical Pencil Factory wearing face coverings.

U.S. broadcaster Radio Free Asia (RFA) on Tuesday quoted sources from North Pyongan Province as saying that North Korean authorities abruptly lifted mask mandates starting this month.

One source told the RFA that an order was issued to North Koreans Friday, the last day of June, to stop wearing masks starting July 1, and that Pyongyang's National Emergency Quarantine Command issued such instructions to local authorities nationwide.

However, some sources said that the removal of the mask mandate could be a "temporary" measure to prevent the spread of skin or eye diseases caused by wearing face coverings in the summer heat.

Top: North Koreans are spotted wearing masks at an indoor event reported on Friday. Bottom: North Korean youths attend an event without masks in an auditorium in North Hamgyong Province, as seen in a screen capture taken from video footage run by the state-run Korean Central Television Monday. [YONHAP]

On May 24, 2022, North Korea declared "victory" over Covid-19, claiming zero deaths from the virus that day. The declaration came just 12 days after the authorities acknowledged for the first time a local outbreak of the disease and related deaths.

In keeping with such claims, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has also been spotted since then attending events mask-free, possibly to reduce anxiety in the country over Covid-19.

"It can be presumed that there was a realistic need to ease [the mask mandates] in a situation where intensive quarantine measures have been conducted for nearly three and a half years," an official from the South's Unification Ministry told reporters Tuesday.

The official pointed to photos printed by the Rodong Sinmun starting Monday showing drastically fewer people wearing masks, a few rare exceptions notwithstanding.

"There are clearly several trends, such as North Korea's participation in the Hangzhou Asian Games and the opening of the borders," the official added.

The 19th Asian Games 2022, which was postponed a year, is set to open in Hangzhou, China from Sept. 23 to Oct. 8.

The Olympic Council of Asia announced the new dates for the Games last week after the event was again postponed from May due to the spread of Covid-19 around the host city.

North Korea is expected to make a return to international sports events with the upcoming Asian Games. The Summer Olympic Games are also slated for July 2024 in Paris.

The International Olympic Committee at the beginning of the year lifted a ban on North Korea from participating in Olympic Games for boycotting the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics.

Medical facilities are still masked up, as seen in a photo of medical workers at Kim Man Yu Hospital in Pyongyang released by the North’s official Rodong Sinmum on Tuesday. [RODONG SINMUN]

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]