The Yalu River Railway Bridge, or Amnok River Railway Bridge, linking Dandong in China’s Liaoning province and Sinuiju in North Korea, is seen in this 2018 photo. AP-Yonhap

A passenger train service connecting Pyongyang and Beijing will resume operations this week for the first time in about six years, signaling a gradual reopening of cross-border travel between North Korea and China.

According to a Chinese railway service center, the international train linking the two capitals is scheduled to restart round-trip service on Thursday. The route had been suspended since 2020, when North Korea sealed its borders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The train will run four times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, officials said. It is scheduled to depart Beijing at 5:26 p.m. (local time) and arrive in Pyongyang at around 6 p.m. the following day.

The train will stop in Dandong, a Chinese border city across the Amnok River from the North Korean city of Sinuiju. The route has long served as one of the main overland transportation links between the two countries.

Officials said the service will initially be used mainly to transport diplomats and other travelers on official business. If seats remain available, authorities may consider allowing general passengers to purchase tickets.

North Korea shut its borders early in the pandemic and halted most international transportation links, including the Beijing-Pyongyang rail route. The country has gradually eased some travel restrictions in recent months as limited cross-border exchanges with neighboring countries resume.

Before the pandemic, Chinese visitors made up the largest group of foreign tourists to North Korea. Observers say the resumption of rail service could signal a broader recovery in people-to-people exchanges and economic cooperation between the two countries.

China also confirmed the resumption of passenger train services between the two countries.

Guo Jiakun, spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, said at a regular press briefing that China and North Korea are “friendly neighboring countries,” and that maintaining regular passenger train services carries “important significance for facilitating people-to-people exchange between the two sides.”

Source: Korea Times News