In a photo taken on November 27, 2016 a female traffic police officer directs traffic on a road in Pyongyang. Believed to be hand-picked for their looks, Pyongyang's female traffic police are a familiar sight at intersections around the capital, where traffic volumes have noticeably increased in recent years. (Photo by Ed Jones/AFP Photo)

In a photo taken on September 11, 2019, North Korean students pose for photos in Chonji lake, or “Heaven lake”, as they visit the crater of Mount Paektu, near Samjiyon. Mount Paektu has long been considered the spiritual birthplace of the Korean nation and is a place of pilgrimage for tens of thousands of North Koreans every year, who are trained from birth to revere their leaders. (Photo by Ed Jones/AFP Photo)

Uniformed participant dance during a mass rally and parade in the capital's main ceremonial square, a day after the ruling party wrapped up its first congress in 36 years by elevating him to party chairman, in Pyongyang, North Korea, May 10, 2016. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

A photo taken on July 22, 2017 shows beach- goers dancing at the West Sea Barrage beach outside the coastal city of Nampo, southwest of Pyongyang. The West Sea Barrage beach features as a stopping point for foreign tourists, and is a destination for North Korean work groups from the neighbouring area. The beach lies at the end of an eight- kilometre- long barrage that separates the sea from the Taedong River, which runs through Pyongyang. (Photo by Ed Jones/AFP Photo)

North Korean children wave to people on a Chinese tourist boat on the banks of Yalu River near the Chongsong county of North Korea, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong, May 8, 2011. (Photo by Jacky Chen/Reuters)

In this Thursday, June 14, 2018, file photo, students wear virtual reality goggles during a science class at Pyongyang Teachers' University, a teacher training college, in Pyongyang, North Korea. (Photo by Dita Alangkara/AP Photo)

A poster depicts a disinfection worker in North Korea on May 23, 2022. The COVID outbreak in the isolated country, confirmed about two weeks ago, has stoked concerns about a lack of vaccines and medical supplies, while experts said a nationwide lockdown could deepen a food crisis in the country of 25 million. (Photo by KCNA via Reuters)

Technicians check a CRH high-speed train at Shanghai Hongqiao High-speed train base on December 28, 2011 in Shanghai, China. China's railway stations have started today to sell tickets for the 2012 Spring Festival travel season scheduled to run between January 8th and February 16th, centred around the Chinese New Year which this year falls on January 23rd. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images)