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North Korea, which has a nuclear weapon, closed its borders in January and distanced itself from the outside world in a bid to avoid the virus. The Party affirms that there are no cases of coronavirus infection in its territory.
Kim Jong Un himself repeated this during a large military parade in October.
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Experts believe this is unlikely and note that the new virus initially appeared in neighboring China, which is North Korea’s main trading partner and aid provider.
South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said at a forum in Bahrain on Saturday that it was “hard to believe” that there were no cases of COVID-19 in North Korea. The minister added that Pyongyang did not respond to Seoul’s proposals to help deal with the disease.
As a result of the pandemic, “North Korea has become even bigger, even more closed, with a strictly hierarchical decision-making process with very little debate on its measures on COVID-19,” Kang Kyung-wha said.
“Everything indicates that the regime is working hard to control the disease, which they say it does not have,” added the South Korean minister.
Kim Yo Jong, sister and key adviser to the North Korean leader, condemned Kang Kyung-wha in a statement released on Wednesday by Korea’s Central News Agency (KCNA), calling her comments “flagrant” and accusing her of undermining the already tense relations between the two Koreas.
“Her ill-considered comments, which she made without thinking about the consequences, show that she is very eager to worsen the cold relations between North and South Korea,” said Kim Yo Jong. “We will never forget your words, and you may have to pay a high price for them.”
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Pyongyang’s talks with Washington and Seoul stalled after the failed 2019 meeting of Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump in Hanoi, which collapsed due to disagreement over what North Korea could reject in return. to make sanctions more flexible.
In June, North Korea blew up a South Korean liaison office building in the border city of Kesong, paid for by Seoul, and said it was no longer interested in negotiations.
Pyongyang has yet to comment on the election of Joe Biden as president of the United States; North Korean state media have not even reported the results of the US elections. Biden has previously called Kim Jong Un a “killer.”
Kim Yo Jong’s statement came during a visit to Seoul by US Under Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, who led the Trump administration’s denuclearization talks with Pyongyang.
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