Ethnic Chinese residents of North Korea have returned to the DPRK for the first time in four years after a lengthy exile during the pandemic, the Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang recently revealed.

Ambassador Wang Yajun reportedly met with over 10 representatives of the so-called hwagyo community on March 29 to check in on the long-term residents after their return. 

In a post on its website, the embassy stated that the Chinese passport-holders with roots in North Korea returned to the DPRK last year, though this appeared to be the first public acknowledgment of that fact.

Members of the small hwagyo