North Korea Reports Zero COVID-19 Cases... Social Distancing in South Korea-US Epidemic Cooperation

Self-Reliance Crisis Overcoming to Promote 'Kim Jong-un Leadership'

Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea, attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the Pyongyang General Hospital on March 17, according to a report by the Korean Central News Agency on the 18th.

North Korea continues to claim that it has zero confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), and there are expectations that it will maintain 'social distancing' with a passive attitude toward the quarantine cooperation proposed by South Korea and the United States.

On the 8th, the Institute for National Security Strategy released a report titled "North Korea's COVID-19 Response: Characteristics and Implications," stating, "North Korea is expected to focus on minimizing damage independently by mobilizing all national capabilities for the time being," and "externally, it will continue to emphasize that there are no internal confirmed cases while maintaining a passive stance toward support offers from the outside, including the United States."

Previously, President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump had proposed quarantine cooperation and support to North Korea.

In the context of infectious diseases where global cooperation is crucial, North Korea's focus on a 'self-reliant' quarantine approach appears to be closely related to the leadership propaganda of Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea.

Unlike during the 2014 Ebola and 2015 MERS outbreaks, Kim directly engaged in the COVID-19 situation. On February 29, he presided over an expanded meeting of the Party Political Bureau, issuing specific work instructions and action guidelines related to COVID-19.

Kim Ho-hong, senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy, said, "Kim's direct involvement in COVID-19 quarantine, despite the risks of policy failure, was partly due to the gravity of the matter, but it is also presumed that he had gained some confidence in the quarantine efforts about a month after the situation began."

Considering the infection and spread situations in countries such as China, South Korea, the United States, Japan, and the European Union (EU), it is analyzed that North Korea calculated that minimizing damage through strong control could be sufficiently promoted as its own achievement.

Senior Research Fellow Kim predicted, "(North Korea) will declare the situation over at an appropriate time, considering the containment status of COVID-19 in China, and actively use the achievements in COVID-19 quarantine for promoting Kim Jong-un's leadership propaganda, boosting residents' pride, and encouraging a frontal breakthrough campaign."

In fact, unlike past infectious disease outbreaks, North Korea is devoted to rapid and active quarantine activities and publicity. This is clearly reflected in the number of related reports over one month after switching to a national emergency quarantine system due to the infectious disease. During the Ebola outbreak, there were 20 reports in one month, and during MERS, there were 7 reports. However, COVID-19 had as many as 76 reports.

On March 17th, Chairman Kim personally broke ground at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Pyongyang General Hospital.

Meanwhile, North Korea's Ministry of Public Health reportedly reiterated its claim that no COVID-19 cases have occurred domestically, stating that it has independently established COVID-19 testing capabilities in a 'weekly report' submitted to the World Health Organization (WHO), according to major foreign media on the 7th (local time).

Edwin Salvador, WHO Pyongyang representative, conveyed that as of the 2nd of this month, North Korea reported conducting COVID-19 diagnostic tests on a total of 709 people, including 698 nationals and 11 foreigners, with no confirmed cases.

North Korea also reported that 509 people are currently in quarantine, of whom 507 are nationals and 2 are foreigners.

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