Editor’s note: Updated throughout at 6:47 p.m. KST on July 25 to reflect announcement that Russian delegation will also visit Pyongyang.

North Korea has announced that Chinese and Russian delegations will travel to the country this week, marking the first foreign visits since the pandemic and a notable shift in the DPRK’s approach to international engagement and epidemic control.

Foreign diplomatic personnel have entered North Korea twice during the pandemic, in March 2020 and March 2023, but both cases involved the arrival of staff who would live in Pyongyang long term.

The forthcoming visits