Reuters

learned about the strengthening of North Korea 's border with China and Russia.Over several years, the DPRK has built hundreds of kilometers of modernized barriers

After the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the North Korean authorities began large-scale construction of fortifications in the north of the country - on the border with Russia and China, Reuters reports, citing satellite images.

According to the agency, the pandemic regime has provided Pyongyang with a "rare opportunity" to cut off all routes previously used by smugglers and defectors. For several years, the DPRK has built hundreds of kilometers of modernized border barriers, walls and guard posts, Reuters notes.

North Korea borders on Russia in the north (18 km border), China in the northeast (1.4 thousand km) and South Korea in the south (353 km).

The agency recalls that, according to official figures, only 67 defectors from North Korea were recorded last year, compared with 1,047 in 2019.

Benjamin Katzeff-Silberstein, a permanent fellow at the American Stimson Center, told Reuters that the closed borders in the DPRK are likely to remain for a long time. “The long-term consequences of this will affect, among other things, the emerging class of merchants in North Korea and in cities where a flourishing informal trade previously gave many people, especially women, the chance to forge their own path,” the expert said.

In January 2020, amid the spread of COVID-19, the DPRK temporarily closed the border to foreign tourists. The borders between Russia and North Korea were closed a month later, at the same time that passenger rail service was terminated. So, because of the closed borders, employees of the Russian embassy and their families were forced to cross the border of the DPRK on a railcar.

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Pyongyang reported the first case of COVID-19 only in early May 2021. By May 20, according to official figures, the number of cases was more than 2 million people, and the number of deaths was 65 people. The authorities decided to use the army to provide the population with medicines and personal protective equipment in a timely manner.

In August 2022, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared victory over the coronavirus. In his speech, he, among other things, ordered officials to ensure the perfection of "a general multiple blockade in the border, front-line and coastal areas, at sea and in the air." The country has not officially opened the borders for foreigners so far.

How the number of new cases of Covid-19 infection in Russia is changing Source: federal and regional headquarters for combating coronavirus Data for Russia i