More than 300 North Koreans returned home Monday from a Chinese border city, multiple sources said, following Pyongyang’s announcement to reopen its borders for its citizens abroad for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Around 300 to 400 North Koreans left Dandong in northeastern China for the North’s border city of Sinuiju earlier in the day on some 10 buses that made several trips across the border, according to the sources.

It marked the first time for North Koreans to return home by road transportation since the reclusive country closed its border in January 2020 due to the pandemic.

On Sunday, North Korea’s state media reported that the country’s emergency epidemic prevention headquarters had announced it is allowing its citizens overseas to return home amid eased concerns about the pandemic situation.

More than 100 North Koreans are expected to return Tuesday from Dandong, with over 1,000 in total by the end of this week, one of the sources said.

Another source said the returning North Koreans include students, government and trade workers, and patients, noting they gathered in the Chinese border city around a week earlier to go back to the North.

They are expected to undergo a week of quarantine in Sinuiju, before heading to Pyongyang.

In the border reopening announcement, the North said those returning will be put under medical observation at quarantine facilities for one week.

In signs of increasing cross-border travel, North Korea has recently permitted its athletes to cross the border into China to take part in the ITF Taekwon-Do World Championships in Kazakhstan. It also resumed the operation of commercial flights with China and Russia last week.

Source: Yonhap News Agency