North Korea, angered by Kang Kyung-hwa... WHO also reports "0 COVID-19 cases"

World Health Organization "Over 9,300 Tested, All Negative"
North Korea Reacts Sensitively to Criticism of COVID-19 Response

North Korea held an expanded meeting of the Workers' Party Political Bureau at the Workers' Party headquarters, chaired by Chairman Kim Jong Un, where they criticized the overall recent economic management and discussed preparations for the 8th Party Congress scheduled for January next year, according to a report by the Korean Central News Agency on the 30th of last month.

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced that as of early this month, 9,300 people in North Korea have been tested for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), and all results came back negative. Previously, North Korea had reacted angrily and issued a warning in response to Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha's remark that "North Korea's COVID-19 response is strange."

According to WHO's "Weekly COVID-19 Situation Report" on the 11th, a total of 9,373 people in North Korea were tested for COVID-19 infection as of the 3rd of this month, and all were confirmed negative.

Among those tested, nearly half?4,275 people?were suffering from severe acute respiratory infections or flu-like illnesses, or had a fever during quarantine. The rest were health personnel working at quarantine stations or involved in sample collection and testing. As of the 26th of last month, a total of 33,044 people had been released from quarantine.

However, the number of tested individuals reported this time is lower than the figure previously stated by Edwin Salvador, WHO Pyongyang Office Chief, in an interview with Radio Free Asia (RFA) on the 9th of last month (a total of 12,072 as of October 29). RFA requested an explanation from WHO regarding this discrepancy but reportedly did not receive a response.

This year, despite economic difficulties, North Korea has been making strenuous efforts to maintain a "steel-clad lockdown" against COVID-19, with Chairman Kim Jong-un personally presiding over nine Workers' Party Political Bureau meetings focused on epidemic prevention.

Chairman Kim Jong-un has publicly claimed that there are zero confirmed cases, but doubts about the credibility of this claim remain. On the 5th, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha pointed out in an international conference speech that North Korea's claim of having no confirmed cases is hard to believe. North Korea responded sensitively by issuing a statement under the name of First Deputy Director of the Workers' Party Kim Yo-jong just five days later, refuting the claim.

Meanwhile, the WHO report stated that due to North Korea's border closures, COVID-19-related supplies have not been brought in. These supplies have been stored at the WHO warehouse in Dubai, Middle East, and the WHO is currently seeking storage locations for COVID-19 supplies produced in or arriving from China intended for North Korean aid.

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