The Shining Example, North Korea Tarnished with COVID

"The North Korean leadership likely felt that acknowledging an outbreak in a timely manner -- and showing the public that the leadership was responding quickly -- was necessary for effectively controlling the situation and seeking the people's co-operation in the regime's stepped-up quarantine efforts."

Rachel Minyoung Lee, non-resident fellow, 38 North Program, Stimson Center

"Look how difficult it is in Shanghai, for them to stop Omicron -- and that's throwing absolutely everything they can think of at the epidemic, at the outbreak."

"In North Korea I think it's going to be very tough to stop this. I'd be very, very worried at this point."

Professor Ben Cowling, epidemiologist, University of Hong Kong.  

 

"They really only have one option. They've got to find a way to bring in vaccines and to rapidly vaccinate the population."

"The world is willing and ready to help North Korea, but they have to be willing to invite that help."

Peter Hotez, vaccine expert, US National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine. 

Kim Jong-un has not been seen wearing a face mask on television since the pandemic began  KCTV/AP

 

In the 1990s North Korea suffered a famine estimated to have caused the death of up to 3.5 million North Koreans over a period of years. The poor in North Korea suffer from malnutrition which has conditioned them to stunted growth. This huge segment of the population is health-compromised in a country whose leader refused to entertain the thought of importing vaccines, yet boasted that his country was free of COVID-19, which has struck everywhere else in the world. 

Kim Jong Un has just announced his country's first coronavirus case and he is no longer gloating at his status of an exceptional leader who miraculously kept the pandemic at bay. This, even though the commander of U.S. Forces Korea stated in July of 2020 that the virus had been reported both in China and Russia as outbreaks were seen to occur near their borders with North Korea. 

Finally, at a time when 520 million cases have been reported globally, COVID appears to have knocked at North Korea's door. In one of the most repressive systems on Earth where political prisons abound for citizens who fail to toe the government line or have the temerity to question its leader's dictates, Kim Jong Un has ordered lockdowns in all of the country's cities.

 

Recently there were several large-scale gatherings in the country as well as a military parade held a month ago where tens of thousands of maskless soldiers marched in the presence of maskless masses, following the example of their maskless leader. Airports in the country have been closed during the pandemic but the regime reopened a rail link with China in the new year. Black-market traders crossing the border can't be discounted.

 

There are concerns Covid could worsen an already dire food situation  AFP

It was, boasted Kim, evidence of his nation's superiority in evading the entry of COVID-19 to the country. Sacrifices made to further isolate North Korea in a depressed, sanctioned economy succeeded in maintaining a coveted COVID-free population. Now that conceit has been shattered. Now, because North Korea refused all foreign vaccines, its 26 million people are vulnerable to strains of the virus.

This is a country whose health-care system is fragile and under-funded. Kim has poured his nation's treasury into designing and building facilities for nuclear and missiles development for security purposes against the designs of his nation's enemies who plan, he claims, to destroy the country. Investment in agriculture and manufacturing to buoy the economy and feed its citizenry is an afterthought.

Should a widespread outbreak occur in Pyongyang where about one in ten North Koreans live, it has the potential to gravely impact a large proportion of the population. The city's lockdown spurred panic in its population, with people desperate to stock up, leading to long lines for public transport. Their leader, however, retains his confidence that under his unerring leadership, the country will soon shake off the virus.

North Korea will return to its former state as a "shining success" where the borders were sealed and North Korean athletes were kept from competing at two Olympics. Even cold-blooded murder was not beyond the pale in protecting the country from contracting the virus. North Korean troops shot, killed and burned the body of a South Korean government employee who had the misfortune to drift too near a nautical border.

The scene in the capital Pyongyang - much of the country is inaccessible to foreign visitors   Reuters