North Korea has pushed to expand medical cooperation with several African countries throughout the pandemic, an NK News review of DPRK diplomatic activity has found, in what one expert said is likely part of efforts to dispatch doctors.

But activity by North Korean doctors and nurses is likely to run afoul of U.N. Security Council sanctions that have forbidden DPRK laborers from working overseas since Dec. 2019, raising questions about whether such medical work should be allowed given that North Korea’s COVID-19 border controls has stranded its citizens abroad.