International passenger train services between China and North Korea have resumed after a 6-year suspension, with the train departing from China arriving in North Korea's capital Pyongyang on Thursday evening (March 12).
The international passenger train from China's Dandong Station to North Korea's Pyongyang Station arrived at Pyongyang Station that evening. Chinese Ambassador to North Korea Wang Yajun and several embassy diplomats, as well as Kim Yong-ho, Director of the External Affairs Bureau of North Korea's Ministry of Railways, greeted passengers arriving on this train at the platform.
According to reports, Wang Yajun extended a warm welcome to passengers traveling to North Korea on this train. He said that the resumption of two-way international passenger trains between China and North Korea is an event eagerly anticipated by the people of both countries and a significant event in the development of bilateral relations.
China-North Korea train services were suspended in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
China Railway Group announced on its WeChat public account that starting from Thursday, international passenger trains will operate in both directions between Beijing and Dandong in China, and Pyongyang in North Korea. International passenger trains between Beijing and Pyongyang will run in both directions on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays each week. International passenger trains between Dandong and Pyongyang will operate daily in both directions.
The last two carriages of the train departing from Beijing Station have Pyongyang as their final destination. Unlike the other green carriages, these two carriages are painted blue and white, feature soft sleeper compartments, and have the Chinese characters 'Beijing—Pyongyang' along with small-sized Korean script on the exterior. A large number of plainclothes police and public security officers were deployed around the train heading to North Korea. There were also many sleeper compartments inside the train that were not occupied by travelers. The electronic display at Beijing Station also showed the K27 train scheduled to depart for Pyongyang at 5:26 p.m.
The train from Beijing to Pyongyang takes about 25 hours to complete its journey, with compartments available in six-berth and four-berth sleeper formats.
Yonhap News Agency noted that as exchanges between China and North Korea gradually resume, there is considerable attention on whether bilateral interactions will become more active following the restart of international train services. There is also a view that, with U.S. President Trump set to visit China