A North Korean business delegation traveled to central China to sync up with local officials and companies on chemical industry projects this week, according to a Tongchuan municipal government press release. 

The trip came as North Korean delegations almost completely stopped traveling abroad after the country closed its borders in Jan. 2021 to protect itself from COVID-19.

The man leading the North Korean delegation, Sin Yong Nam, is the president of the Petrochemicals Trading Company housed under the DPRK’s Ministry of Chemical Industry. State media previously said that the Petrochemicals Trading Company controls some of