Freight trains carrying cargo have “resumed operation” between China and North Korea, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said Monday, appearing to confirm the first such rail shipment into the DPRK in nearly a year and a half due to the pandemic.

Spokesperson Zhao Lijian’s statement followed an NK News report that North Korea planned to allow a freight train to enter the country from Dandong on Monday amid apparent food and materials shortages, and news reports that a train carrying goods crossed into the DPRK earlier in the day.