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Seoul: North Korea lashed out at South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha for questioning his claim that there were no coronavirus outbreaks there, warning of the consequences of his “brazen” comment, media said state on Wednesday (December 9).
Kang said Saturday that it was “hard to believe” that North Korea had no coronavirus cases, even as the country has been doing everything it can to prevent the disease.
North Korea has not officially confirmed any infections, although it has said there were thousands of “suspected cases.”
LEE: South Korean diplomat says it is hard to believe that North Korea does not have COVID-19 cases
Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who serves as a senior official with the Workers’ Party, issued a statement to the official KCNA news agency, saying that Kang’s comments were intended to further strain the inter-Korean ties.
“You can see from the reckless comments made by her without any consideration of the consequences that she is too eager to further cool the frozen relationships,” Kim said.
“We will never forget your words and you may have to pay dearly for it.”
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South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong Un held three summits in 2018, but relations have made little progress since the failed 2019 summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump, in which Moon had offered to mediate. .
KCNA said last week that North Korea has imposed “first-class emergency measures” to block the advance of the coronavirus.
Seoul’s National Intelligence Service has said that an outbreak in the North cannot be ruled out, as the isolated country had trade and interpersonal exchanges with China, where the virus emerged a year ago, before sealing the border in late January. .
The KCNA report came as US Under Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, Washington’s point man on North Korea who had led the denuclearization talks, arrived in Seoul late Monday on his possible last trip before that a new US administration under President-elect Joe Biden take office next month.
Pyongyang has not issued a formal response to the recent US elections.
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