Article author:
Reuters
Hyonhee Shin and Josh Smith
SEOUL — North Korea's Kim Jong-un declared victory in the fight against COVID-19 on Thursday as the leader's sister said he had a fever. vows "deadly retribution" against South Korea, which it accuses of causing the epidemic.
Kim Jong-Il ordered the lifting of the maximum quarantine measures imposed in May, stating that North Korea would "maintain an iron-strong quarantine barrier until the global health crisis is over." We must step up our quarantine efforts," he added. ,” according to a report by state news agency KCNA.
North Korea has never confirmed how many people have been infected with COVID-19 and is apparently short on testing supplies.
Kim's sister, Kim Yo-jong, said the young leader himself was suffering from fever symptoms.
"He was seriously ill with a high fever, but when he thought about the people he had to take care of until the very end in the face of the epidemic war, he could not lie down for a moment. She said in remarks at a meeting on Wednesday that she would consider the country's anti-epidemic response.
She did not elaborate on Kim's health, but she was found near the border. He blamed leaflets from South Korea for causing the outbreak.
For decades, North Korean defectors and South Korean activists have carried balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets along with food, medicine, money and other supplies.
Kim Yo-jung criticized President Yoon Seok-yeol's new Seoul government for seeking to lift the ban on these campaigns in 2020, calling it an "immutable
"We can no longer overlook the uninterrupted influx of garbage from South Korea," she said, threatening to "wipe out" Seoul's authorities. "Our countermeasures must be deadly retaliation."
According to South Korea's Yonhap news agency, South Korea's Unification Ministry said letters from North Korean defectors were infected with the new coronavirus. It regretted North Korea's claims that it was the cause of its expansion and North Korean intimidation.
Restrictions lifted
Analysts say authoritarian North Korea used the pandemic to tighten social control, but declared victory. said it could be a prelude to restoring trade hampered by border closures. Other Restrictions.
Observers also said it could pave the way for North Korea to conduct its first nuclear weapons test since 2017.
It seems to be aimed at promoting unity, but it is to send a message to China that they are not infected with the new coronavirus and are ready to resume trade," said Yang of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.・Professor Mujin said.
North Korea's official death rate of 0.0016%, or 74 out of about 4.77 million, is an "unprecedented miracle," anti-COVID chief Ri Chung Gil said at a conference. .
The World Health Organization cast doubt on North Korea's claims, saying the situation could get worse in June.
"Whatever the truth behind the numbers, this is the story being told to North Korean citizens, and now the numbers are telling them the epidemic is over," North Korea said. said Martin Williams, a researcher at the US-based 38 North Project, which tracks North Korean case reports.
He said it was likely balancing the need for control with the public's fatigue of the restrictions, whether for medical reasons or not.
"As of Wednesday night, state television still showed 100% mask-wearing in public activities, but the longer the number of cases remains zero, the , I think the public will question that life continues to be restricted," Williams said.
North Korea's declaration of victory over the novel coronavirus came despite its lack of a known vaccine program. Instead, it says the country is relying on lockdowns, homegrown treatments, and what Kim called a "favorable Korean-style socialist system." (Reported by Hyonhee Shin and Josh Smith; edited by Stephen Coates and Lincoln Feast.)
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