North Korea appears to lift Covid mask rule: ‘Leading to skin, eye infections'

This marks a "stark change" compared to newspaper coverage dating back to September, NK News reported.

North Korea appeared to have eased a strict Covid mask mandate, reports said as state news agencies showed many people maskless. The country maintained border lockdowns and other anti-Covid measures long after most other nations ended such restrictions. Even though North Korean state television and newspapers did not make any official announcement, it showed crowds of people at theatres and other locations without any masks.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP)

This marks a "stark change" compared to newspaper coverage dating back to September, NK News, a Seoul-based site that monitors North Korea, reported. Residents, factories and social groups were told that the mandate was lifted as of July 1, Radio Free Asia (RFA) said. Authorities had eased the mandates because wearing used masks and strict mask control had led to the spread of skin and eye infections, it added.

Last August, Pyongyang had dropped a face mask mandate along with other social distancing rules. Then North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had declared victory over Covid-19. But one month after the announcement, the authorities ordered citizens to wear masks in public again, citing flu and infectious diseases.

South Korea's spy agency said defectors who fled North Korea in May decided to do so because of the country's strict Covid rules. The curbs were also criticized by a United Nations report last year.