North Korea has further eased restrictions placed on foreign diplomats, such as banning visits to areas outside their residential districts, even as leader Kim Jong Un has been absent from public view for around 20 days until Tuesday.

The Russian Embassy said Monday that foreign diplomats are now allowed by the North Korean Foreign Ministry to visit a number of department stores in Pyongyang, signaling the country's leadership is confident of preventing the new coronavirus spread in the capital.

North Korea has cut off traffic to and from China and Russia since earlier this year to curb an outbreak of the virus that causes respiratory disease called COVID-19. It has claimed that the virus has not made inroads into the nation.

Kim's movements, meanwhile, has not been reported in state-run media since May 2, when the official Korean Central News Agency released photos showing him attending a ceremony to mark the completion of a fertilizer factory the previous day.

Rejecting a rumor that he was in bad health, the South Korean government said in April that Kim may be taking preventive steps against the virus.

(People walk in the rain in Pyongyang on May 15, 2020, wearing face masks amid the coronavirus pandemic.)

Following the virus pandemic, North Korea's economy has apparently faced a severe downturn as trade with China, its closest and most influential ally in economic terms, has become stagnant, foreign affairs experts say.

Amid mounting fears about shortage of food and daily necessities, panic buying was briefly rife in Pyongyang, with locals rushing to go to department stores and supermarkets, according to South Korea's spy agency.

Earlier this month, Russia said it has sent 25,000 tons of wheat in humanitarian aid to North Korea.

In early February, North Korea started to implement strict measures on foreign diplomats and international organization staff, including quarantining many of them, but the country has lifted such restrictions since March in a phased manner.


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