Ambassador takes yoga to streets amid lockdown
SEOUL - Barefoot and blonde, Swedish Ambassador Joachim Bergstrom makes an unlikely sight in North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, as he practises yoga poses near some of its most iconic landmarks.
One of the few Western diplomats who has not evacuated from North Korea amid coronavirus restrictions, Bergstrom has relied on yoga to endure the deepening sense of isolation.
Mr Bergstrom, who has been in North Korea as an ambassador since September 2019, came prepared to use the exercise regimen as a way to stay healthy and unwind in a country where foreigners and residents are under constant restraints.
But the sense of isolation deepened when the coronavirus began to spread in neighbouring China in January, prompting North Korea to shut its borders, cancel most flights and train service, and send foreign residents into more than a month of quarantine.
North Korea says it has zero confirmed cases of the coronavirus, but has taken significant measures to prevent the spread of the disease.
Several foreign delegations arranged to temporarily leave, including officials from Germany, France, and Britain, while others were locked out of the country by the sudden border closings.
Mr Bergstrom has stayed on, and teaches occasional yoga classes to a dwindling number of international diplomats and aid workers.
Foreigners were allowed out of their compounds at the beginning of March, but still face restrictions on travel and movement around the city, he said.