Chinese government scholarship students are together after arriving in Pyongyang, in this file photo taken from the website of the Chinese Embassy in North Korea, May 2. Yonhap

North Korea has approved the entry of more than 80 Chinese students seeking to study in the North in the first such acceptance of overseas students after years of stringent border lockdowns aimed at fending off the pandemic.

Late Thursday, the Chinese Embassy in North Korea released a photo on its website of 41 government scholarship students who arrived in Pyongyang the previous day.

The embassy said the arrival of the students marked the "resumption of study abroad exchange programs between China and North Korea," adding that 45 self-funded Chinese students also entered the North recently.

North Korea began resuming exchanges with China, its longtime ally and largest economic benefactor, in a limited manner after partially opening its border in August last year after more than three years and six months of closure.

The North has also approved the entry of government delegations from China and Russia as well as group tourists from Russia since its partial border reopening. (Yonhap)