Britain shuts embassy in North Korea amid coronavirus restrictions

Britain has closed its embassy in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang and ordered its staff to leave the country. The surprise closure is linked to coronavirus-related restrictions in place since earlier this year, which the Foreign Office said had left it unable to "rotate our staff and sustain the operation of the Embassy". It follows a similar evacuation of a number of other diplomats and foreign residents from the North Korean capital in March. A number of sources told the US news website NK News on Wednesday that the British diplomats left North Korea by land, crossing the DPRK's border with China earlier on Wednesday. Flights out of the country remain grounded. Hundreds of foreign residents remain in Pyongyang, including diplomats from the Swedish and Russian embassies and a small number of aid workers, though absent representatives from Germany, Switzerland, France, and Italy. There are currently no British residents in the country. Resident diplomats had previously raised their concerns about the severity of the DPRK authorities' coronavirus-prevention rules, which saw the country close its borders and place them under effective house arrest for over a month earlier in the year.
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