Update on 20/5 at 09:00 KST: This article has been updated to include an additional statement from the Russian embassy. 

The North Korean government has lifted a number of restrictions previously placed on foreign diplomats, the Russian embassy in Pyongyang said in a statement Monday, in a further relaxation of measures previously taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

In a statement published on its Facebook page, the embassy reported it had received a note from colleagues in the Protocol Department of the DPRK Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) informing them of the new rules.

Foreign diplomats, the note says, are now permitted to visit a number of department stores in the DPRK capital, including the First Department Store, the Pyongyang Station Department store, the Kwangbok Street Shopping Center, and the Pothonggang Department Store.

The news represents an apparent further relaxation of measures officially put in place in early February, following Pyongyang’s decision early last month that allowed foreign nationals to “visit all the capital’s shops, restaurants, everyday businesses.”

It’s unclear why certain department stores remained off-limits until this week, with the Russian embassy telling NK News that “after getting the April note saying all shops are open we were told a few exceptions remain.”

“Now we are officially allowed to visit those former exceptions as well,” an official from the embassy said.

The embassy did, however, hail the “good news” as a sign that the DPRK’s efforts to stem the spread of COVID-19 in its territory had been successful.

“Another easing of the restrictive measures that have been in place since the beginning of February shows the effectiveness of the… measures being carried out by the DPRK leadership,” it said in a statement.

Following the almost-complete closure of the country’s borders and an end to all diplomatic activity by its officials prompted by these measures, early this month saw the resumption of high-level diplomatic work with a meeting between North Korea’s foreign minister Ri Son Gwon and Russian ambassador Alexander Matsegora.

Analysis by NK News‘s sister site NK Pro last week, too, suggested that quarantine measures had been relaxed at one of the DPRK’s largest ports.

North Korea continues to officially claim no cases of COVID-19 in its territory.

Edited by James Fretwell