All COVID-19-related restrictions on movement for foreign residents in the North Korean capital have been lifted as of Thursday, the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang said.

Citing a new letter received from the Protocol Department of the DPRK’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the embassy said in a Facebook post Thursday morning that “foreign nationals are once again allowed to visit all the capital’s shops, restaurants, everyday businesses, and the Thongil Market.”

Foreigners are still being “strongly asked,” the post added, to follow the rules of each location or establishment they visit, such as always wearing a face mask, “until the repeal of the state emergency anti-epidemic system.”

The MFA notice was said to have been addressed to all embassies and foreign organizations operating in Pyongyang.

The embassy also said they regard the lifting of restrictions as “proof of the efficacy” of the DPRK leadership’s prevention measures, but that they were “pleased” to see them lifted after two months.

Ambassador Alexander Matsegora lodged a public complaint in mid-February at the level of restrictions put in place by DPRK authorities, saying that all diplomatic contacts with his North Korean counterparts had completely stopped.

It remains unclear, however, if the North Korean MFA will once again resume face-to-face meetings with foreign diplomats in the capital.

But as those residing in Pyongyang have now not come in contact with travelers from outside the DPRK in almost two months, and North Korea continues to claim zero infections in the entire country, such meetings should, in theory, be considered safe.

Strict measures confining foreigners to their embassies or residencies and prohibiting them from visiting shops or businesses in the city were officially put in place in early February, and followed other quarantine measures in late January.

Some restrictions on foreigners’ movement were then lifted around March 12, allowing them to leave their compounds and visit a select number of shops, establishments, and some public parks, while still forbidding access to public transport and other areas.

This followed the departure days earlier of a specially-arranged plane to Vladivostok of over a hundred foreigners including embassy and organization staff, five weeks after all flights out of the country were suspended.

That March 9 flight was the last known international flight out of Pyongyang — both Air Koryo and Air China have still yet to resume operations and are not expected to do so until May at the earliest.

Edited by Oliver Hotham