While information about the Covid-19 situation in North Korea is severely limited, new reports show the reclusive state’s paranoia about the pandemic spreading in the country.
According to Radio Free Asia, a source in North Korea said that “there are patients who appear to have Covid-19 all over the country and the government continues to urge people to follow emergency quarantine protocols.” The source claimed that there were around 2,400 Covid-19 patients in North Pyongan Province alone and about 50 people died from it. “There are many who die from it without getting tested on what kind of disease they have,” the source said. This source said another 6,589 Covid-19 patients were reported in South Hamgyong Province and 6,355 in the Rason Special Economic Zone. The source, who was said to be government official, added that these figures were from regional disease control agencies’ official reports to the government.
“They promulgated notifications saying that people who share information about Covid-19 with others and cause social unrest would be punished by up to five years of forced labor,” the source said. “The notification that came out in early May said that they will punish people who lead this kind of effort by up to ten years of forced labor.” According to the source, the North Korean government declared any activity going against its Covid-19 countermeasures to be treason, and people are staying quiet and not talking about the virus.
Another source living in Gangwon Province said that there are nearly 2,000 patients who appeared to suffer from Covid-19 as of the end of April. “The local government force people with Covid-19 related symptoms be self-quarantined at their homes and they are not able to contact others in person,” the source said. “People who are in quarantine are banned from participating in any kind of social activity and they have a hard time making a living since they are not receiving any help from the government. This is why more people hide the fact that they have Covid-19 related symptoms.”
The World Health Organization said last week that a total of 27,446 North Koreans have been tested, and none of them were found to have Covid-19. The WHO added that more than 700 people are getting tested per week in North Korea. However, many are suspicious about the statistics provided by the WHO. The WHO statistics match with the North Korean government’s propaganda, which says that it does not have a single case of the virus.
The South Korean Ministry of Unification said that Kim Jong-un’s official activity has not been reported for 20 days and that the number of times Kim appeared in front of the public has been reduced compared to previous years. The ministry added that it might be due to Covid-19 concerns.
The North Korean government has not released any comments about the recent summit between President Moon Jae-in and President Joe Biden. South Korean experts said that this is very rare, when considering North Korea’s fiery statements whenever leaders from the two countries met in the past.
Thae Yong-ho, a former senior North Korean diplomat who became a South Korean lawmaker, argued that there is a chance that Moon made a secret deal with Biden to hold another inter-Korean summit. Tae said Moon might have a gift package to give North Korea after having the summit with Biden, which would include various incentives, such as the suspension of U.S.-ROK joint military exercises, the supply of vaccines, resumption of the Kaesong Industrial Complex and Mt. Kumgang tourism program, and establishment of a new clause to exclude inter-Korean cooperation activities from the sanctions list.
“If North Korea remains silent until this week [about the summit], it might be an indication that the secret deals that Moon achieved from the U.S. trip are different than what North Korea initially hoped for,” Tae said. While mentioning South Korean companies’ plan to invest 44 trillion won ($40 billion) in the U.S. market, Tae said that “isn’t it too much to pay 44 trillion won to hold another inter-Korean summit that is aimed at being another show before the presidential election?”
Meanwhile, Park Jie-won, Director of the National Intelligence Service, arrived in New York on May 26 to meet with his counterpart and other government officials in the United States. South Korean media is reporting that there is a chance that Park will discuss providing Covid-19 vaccines to North Korea as diplomatic bargaining chips.
CNN recently reported that the Biden administration is open to sharing coronavirus vaccines with North Korea. The government sources were cited as saying that the North Koreans would not be ready to engage with the United States until the threat of the pandemic has passed, which is one reason why sharing vaccines could grease the wheels for initial diplomatic engagement.
According to the report, the Biden administration is currently reviewing all of its plans for sharing vaccines and additional Covid-19 supplies with a number of countries, including North Korea. When asked about sharing vaccines with the rogue regime, a senior administration official told CNN that the United States would require a system to certify that the vaccines end up in the arms of the North Korean people.
“While we are open to considering DPRK requests for humanitarian assistance, these would need to be accompanied by effective monitoring to ensure that it reached the intended beneficiaries,” the senior Biden administration official said.
