North Korea will soon resume overland trade with China, Seoul’s Ministry of Unification (MOU) suggested on Monday, nearly two years after the country closed its borders to keep out COVID-19.

Describing preparations as “in the final stage,” ministry spokesperson Lee Jong-joo declined to specify a timeline for when the border would reopen. 

“Signs of preparations to resume trade, including technical inspections, have been continuously detected — but it’s not at a stage to say trade has resumed or that the North Korea-China border lockdown has been lifted,” Lee said during a press briefing. 

The MOU spokesperson pointed to the