North Korea: Kim Jong Un declares ‘victory’ over coronavirus pandemic

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Wednesday declared his country’s “victory” over the new coronavirus pandemic, after nearly two weeks of not having a single case of a patient “with a fever,” as the North Korean term is used. Pyongyang, while the young leader’s sister, Kim Jo Jong, said he too had a fever, singling out his efforts and threatening South Korea, which it blames for the outbreak, which it says was caused by propaganda leaflets, with “deadly retaliation”. , that it will be “eliminated”.

Mr Kim ordered the lifting of the “maximum” measures to prevent the spread of the pandemic that he imposed in May, adding that his country must maintain a “steel barrier” against the epidemic and “intensify the work” to deal with it. until the end of the global health crisis,” according to state news agency KCNA.

The head of state, speaking during a meeting with health professionals and scientists, expressed his satisfaction with the “victory” over the pandemic, “a historic event that once again shows the world the greatness of our state, the indomitable perseverance of our people and our proud national customs,” always according to KCNA.

North Korea, one of the first countries in the world to close its borders in January 2020 after SARS-CoV-2 emerged in neighboring China, has long boasted that it was able to fend off the pandemic.

But on May 12, Pyongyang admitted an outbreak was underway and Kim Jong Un took the fight against the pandemic personally. After July 29, no case of a patient “with fever” has been reported by the North Korean government.

According to the data that has been announced, there have been 4.8 million infections since the end of April but only 74 deaths, in other words the official death rate is 0.002%.

North Korean hospitals are notorious for chronic under-equipment and a lack of intensive care units. No treatment for COVID-19 is available in the country, nor is there a vaccine.

Neighboring South Korea, with an enviable health system and a high rate of immunization of its population, has a mortality rate of 0.12%.

Experts stress that the official figures announced by Pyongyang are insufficient and unreliable. In the absence of tests, the number of confirmed cases was not even made public.

Kim Jo Yong said that her brother, “even though he was seriously ill, did not rest for a moment” because he was “thinking of those who needed to be cared for.” She accused South Korea of ​​causing the outbreak by dropping propaganda leaflets bearing SARS-CoV-2 into the country.

Such propaganda campaigns were officially banned in 2020, but the leader’s sister accused the government of new conservative President Yoon Sok-gil of planning to abolish it and called it Pyongyang’s “main enemy”.

He threatened that the South Korean government would be “wiped out” with “deadly retaliatory measures.”

South Korea’s Unification Ministry, for its part, expressed regret over “baseless claims” that the outbreak was caused by propaganda material dropped by defectors and North Korea’s “threats”, according to South Korea’s national Yonhap news agency.

Analysts believe that Pyongyang’s declaration of “victory” in the fight against the pandemic is likely to be aimed at lifting restrictive measures, restoring trade, especially with China, and possibly paving the way for another nuclear test. weapon, the first since 2017.

The World Health Organization is initially skeptical of North Korea’s announcements about the pandemic. In June, he estimated that the situation was probably getting worse, not better as Pyongyang claimed.

“Whatever the truth behind the numbers, this is the story being told to the people of North Korea. And right now, the numbers are telling them the epidemic is over,” commented Martin Williams of the US think tank 38 North.

SOURCE: AMPE