SEOUL, South Korea – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un urged authorities to remain vigilant against the coronavirus, warning that complacency risked an “unimaginable and unrecoverable crisis,” state media said on Friday.
Despite the warning, Kim reaffirmed North Korea’s claim that it had not had a single case of COVID-19, and said at a ruling party meeting on Thursday that the country has “completely prevented the entry of the malignant virus” into despite the global health crisis.
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Strangers very much doubt that North Korea has fully escaped the pandemic, given its poor health infrastructure and close trade and travel ties to China, where COVID-19 emerged late last year.
Describing its antivirus efforts as a “matter of national existence,” North Korea earlier this year closed almost all cross-border traffic, banned tourists, and mobilized healthcare workers to quarantine anyone with similar symptoms. to disease.
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a politburo meeting of the Central Committee of the Korean Workers’ Party in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Thursday, June 2, 2020. The Independent journalists did not have access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is the one provided and cannot be independently verified. The Korean language watermark on the image as provided by the source says: “KCNA” which is short for Korean Central News Agency. (Central Korean News Agency / Korean News Service via AP)
Experts say the country’s self-imposed blockade is hurting an economy already hit by stringent US-led sanctions for its nuclear weapons and missile program.
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The Korean Central News Agency said Kim during the Workers’ Party politburo meeting “emphasized the need to remain on high alert without mild complacency or relaxation” as the virus continues to spread in neighboring countries.
The agency said Kim harshly criticized the lack of attention among officials and the violations of emergency anti-virus regulations, warning that “hasty relief from anti-epidemic measures will result in an unimaginable and unrecoverable crisis.”
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North Korea’s official newspaper Rodong Sinmun published several photos of Kim at the meeting, which were the first state media images of him in weeks. Neither Kim nor the ruling party officials who participated wore masks.
