Syria’s top envoy to North Korea will leave Pyongyang, North Korean state media confirmed on Friday, as the foreign diplomatic presence in the capital continues to shrink during the pandemic.

Tammam Sulaiman, who has represented Syria in Pyongyang since Oct. 2013, received a DPRK order of friendship for his service at a ceremony reported by state media on Friday.

“Kim Song Nam, director of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, had a talk with Syrian Ambassador to the DPRK Tammam Sulaiman who paid a farewell call on him at the Mansudae Assembly Hall