SEOUL — Taekwondo athletes from North Korea are believed to have crossed the border into China in a group.
They are rumored to be traveling to Kazakhstan's neighboring country for the Taekwondo world championships.
Since closing the COVID border in 2020, Pyongyang has not previously sent a sports team abroad. According to sources, they will continue on to Beijing before arriving in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.
Two green buses have been seen crossing the Yalu River, which separates China and North Korea. They landed in the Chinese city of Dandong, where a large number of passengers got off the ship.
Pyongyang closed its borders at the outset of the pandemic in 2020, and no one has been able to leave or enter since.
These are the first athletes that have been reported to have been sent abroad, suggesting that Pyongyang may finally be easing border restrictions.
According to recent reports, the administration may soon permit its own nationals to enter the nation again. There are still tens of thousands of North Korean workers in China and Russia.
Delegations from China and Russia visited Pyongyang last month to commemorate the armistice's 70th anniversary.
Since the country's borders were closed three years ago, they were the first known international groups to get an invitation.
