A source from North Pyongan Province reported the news today, explaining, “This August, approval for women to ride bicycles was handed down by the state.”

It is not clear upon whose authority the public order has been withdrawn; nevertheless, according to the source, “People have welcomed it, saying that ‘penalties imposed by the father are being lifted by the son.’”

The repressive measure was first imposed by the regime of Kim Jong Il in the 1990s. Kim is said to have decreed it after hearing news of the death of Oh Hye Young, the daughter of Gen. Oh Geuk Ryeol, a vice-chair of the National Defense Commission. Oh had been hit by a car while riding a bicycle in downtown Pyongyang.