North Korea Reports Official Confirmed Cases as '0'... Emphasizes "Perfect Lockdown Barrier" Amid COVID-19 Resurgence

North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un consecutively inspected the typhoon damage recovery sites along the East Coast, including Sinpo in South Hamgyong Province and Hongwon County, the Korean Central Television reported on the 15th of last month.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] North Korea, which officially announced that the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) among its citizens is '0,' has expressed its intention to continue border closure measures to maintain a 'perfect blockade barrier.'

On the 22nd, the Workers' Party organ newspaper Rodong Sinmun emphasized in an article titled "To Build a Perfect Blockade Barrier" that "building a perfect blockade barrier in preparation for the worsening global health crisis is a crucial issue in intensifying the emergency epidemic prevention battle."

It continued, "The blockade barrier established on our territory, territorial waters, and airspace is a fortress for defending the homeland and the people, and the emergency epidemic prevention front is the forefront that determines today's total march victory," adding, "To thoroughly protect the safety of the homeland and the well-being of the people, the blockade barrier must be continuously reinforced like iron."

Furthermore, addressing officials of emergency epidemic prevention agencies at all levels, it stressed, "We must thoroughly guard against complacency, negligence, irresponsibility, and leniency," and urged, "By focusing our main efforts on finding and thoroughly blocking even the smallest spaces where the malicious virus could enter, we must fortify our epidemic prevention position without any leaks."

On the same day, Korean Central Broadcasting also emphasized the need for stricter emergency epidemic prevention measures in all sectors, stating, "If any member becomes careless even for a moment, the epidemic prevention barrier will collapse entirely, endangering the safety of the homeland and the people."

As North Korea's state media repeatedly emphasize thorough epidemic prevention readiness, it is expected that North Korea's border closure measures will be further strengthened in the future.

Since the early outbreak of COVID-19 in February, North Korea has closed its borders and focused on epidemic prevention, officially recording zero confirmed cases to date.

On the 19th, North Korea also emphasized its refusal to accept external aid through an editorial in Rodong Sinmun, stating, "Faced with the fateful choice of whether to risk our children’s lives by looking beyond the border for non-essential supplies or to endure and save our children, we stand firm."

Considering North Korea's continuous emphasis on thorough epidemic prevention readiness, it appears that the strict border closure measures will continue for the time being.

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