North Korean leader Kim Jong Un lobbied officials to remain vigilant to COVID-19, saying that a rapid relaxation of virus prevention measures could lead to an “unimaginable and unrecoverable crisis,” state media reported Friday. .
In a rare comment on the coronavirus, Kim said managing the pandemic in his country had been a “brilliant success,” and reiterated the country’s past claims that it has not had a single case of the virus, state media KCNA reported. .
The deadly coronavirus first emerged in neighboring China before sweeping the rest of the world. It has now infected more than 10 million people and killed more than 500,000 worldwide, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
“We have thoroughly prevented the spread of the malignant virus and have maintained a stable situation against the epidemic despite the global health crisis, which is a brilliant success,” said Kim in a statement issued by KCNA.
Strangers highly doubt that North Korea has fully escaped the pandemic, given its poor health infrastructure and close trade and travel ties to China.
Kim made the comments during a Workers’ Party politburo meeting, and several photos of him at the meeting were also published in the official Rodong Sinmun del Norte newspaper, the first images of state media in weeks.
According to state media, Kim also harshly criticized the lack of attention among officials and violations of emergency anti-virus regulations. He warned that “hasty relief from measures against the epidemic will result in an unimaginable and unrecoverable crisis” for the country.
Neither Kim nor the ruling party officials at the meeting wore masks.
According to the World Health Organization, the North Korean Ministry of Public Health said the country tested 922 people for the coronavirus as of June 19 and that all results were negative.
Earlier this year, North Korea also closed nearly all cross-border traffic, banned tourists, and mobilized health workers to quarantine anyone with coronavirus-like symptoms.
Kim’s recent statement suggests that the closure of North Korea’s border with China, its largest trading partner and economic pipeline, is likely to continue despite the cost it is having on the already sanctioned economy.
Earlier this month, tensions escalated between the communist country and neighboring South Korea, with the North dramatically demolishing an inter-Korean liaison office in a city on the border between the two.
The North also lashed out at North Korean defectors living in the South, for sending leaflets and propaganda balloons to the demilitarized zone.
Kim’s sister and her trusted assistant Kim Yo Jong, who appears to have gained prominence in recent months, also threatened unspecified military action against the South, but North Korean officials later appeared to withdraw from the action. military.
The two countries are still technically at war when their 1950-53 conflict ended without a peace treaty.
Associated Press contributed
