Ministry of Unification "In Talks with Some Organizations for COVID-19 Aid to North Korea"

"Not a Stage with Specific Requirements"
"Dismissal of Ri Mankeon and Park Taedeok as Part of Anti-Corruption Efforts"

Yeo Sang-gi, spokesperson of the Ministry of Unification, holding a regular briefing at the Government Seoul Office.

As international organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) begin to take visible steps to support North Korea with COVID-19 prevention supplies, the Ministry of Unification announced on the 2nd that it is in talks with some groups.

At a regular briefing held at the Government Seoul Office on the same day, Ministry of Unification spokesperson Yeo Sang-gi responded to a question about whether any international organizations or private groups had requested cooperation from the Ministry regarding COVID-19 by saying, "There are some matters under discussion with certain groups."

However, he added, "Currently, there is no stage where specific requirements for support to North Korea have been established."

There have been no discussions between the two Koreas regarding quarantine cooperation. Spokesperson Yeo said, "So far, there have been no requests from North Korea for support or any concrete discussions related to inter-Korean cooperation."

Recently, it has been reported that North Korea requested COVID-19 prevention supplies from international organizations. In response, the Ministry of Unification stated on the 19th that if such requests are made by international organizations, it would consider providing related quarantine supplies to North Korea.

Regarding the background of North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un’s extraordinary dismissal of the head of the Organization and Guidance Department, the top-ranked party department, at an expanded Politburo meeting held last weekend for the first time in about 10 months, the Ministry of Unification remained tight-lipped.

Spokesperson Yeo said, "It is understood that the meeting was held for the purpose of eradicating corruption among officials and strengthening measures to block the spread of this infectious disease (COVID-19)," adding, "There is nothing specific that the Ministry of Unification can disclose regarding the dismissal."

He further explained, "Typically, North Korea does not publicly mention specific appointments or dismissals of heads of specialized party departments," and "In the cases of Ri Man-gon, the dismissed head of the Organization and Guidance Department, and Park Tae-deok, the party vice chairman, it was only announced that they were dismissed from their positions in the Party Central Committee and as vice chairman, without mentioning the specialized party departments or related timings."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.