Nearly two years into North Korea’s extreme border restrictions, dwindling trade and burdensome shipping quarantine measures have disrupted domestic supply chains and exacerbated the country’s dire food situation. 

And as a return to normalcy has proven elusive in many parts of the world, the question of when the Kim regime will reopen its borders to freight and increased sea trade remains difficult to answer. 

While North Korea and China resumed freight trade on Monday, it’s still unclear whether the development marks a return to normal trade levels and whether rail trade will