North Korea Border Closure Made for Challenging Trip Home

Employees of the Russian Embassy in North Korea were left with a difficult choice when North Korea closed their borders at the start of the coronavirus outbreak a year ago: stay out the pandemic in North Korea or find a way home on their own. The employees and their families decided to get creative and find a way home.

The trip included a day and a half by rail, then a bus trip of a couple of hours, followed by walking on foot to the Russian border. The rail portion was accomplished by use of a hand pushed rail cart. Images show the fleeing group with their possessions in the cart on the railway. Some adults are pushing the cart along the tracks while children and other family members ride in the cart with their belongings.

The image here, shared by the Russian Foreign Ministry, shows the group on the rail bridge over the Tumannaya River. The river is on the border with North Korea.