COVID-19 Vaccine Support for North Korea Gains Government Consensus... Possible Realization This Year?

Unification Minister Lee In-young's First Proposal: "Let's Share Vaccines with North Korea"
US Experts Also Say "Worth Supporting If North Korea Refrains from Provocations"
Germany and Austria Suggest Possibility of Indirect Support via COVAX

President Moon Jae-in and Chairman Kim Jong-un raised their clasped hands high after signing the "Panmunjom Declaration" at Panmunjom on April 27, 2018.

Amid expectations that North Korea's 8th Workers' Party Congress and the inauguration of the U.S. Joe Biden administration will mark a turning point in the situation on the Korean Peninsula, attention is also being drawn to the possibility of a shift in the peninsula's dynamics through COVID-19 vaccine support to North Korea. Since the South Korean government hinted at the possibility of providing vaccines to North Korea and opened the door, a consensus is forming within the international community.

The signal for COVID-19 vaccine support to North Korea was first fired by Lee In-young, Minister of Unification. He has repeatedly expressed the position that COVID-19 vaccines and treatments should be provided to North Korea through various media interviews.

In an interview with KBS in November last year, Minister Lee said, "If we can cooperate with each other through (COVID-19) treatments and vaccines, it could be an opportunity for the North to somewhat escape the economic sacrifices caused by their quarantine system," adding, "I believe that sharing when resources are scarce is the truest form of sharing."

There also appears to be a consensus within the government regarding the idea of providing COVID-19 vaccines to North Korea. In December last year, a Unification Ministry official responded to reporters asking whether they were consulting with health authorities to secure COVID-19 vaccines for North Korean aid by saying, "There is a certain level of consensus within the government that cooperation is necessary in the context of extending health cooperation to guarantee the lives and safety of not only North Koreans but also our own citizens."

Minister of Unification Lee In-young said in an interview with KBS on November 18 last year, "If we can cooperate with each other on (COVID-19) treatments and vaccines, it would be an opportunity for the North to somewhat escape the economic sacrifices made due to the quarantine system," adding, "I believe that sharing together when resources are scarce is the truest form of sharing."

On December 22, Minister Lee reaffirmed his stance on vaccine sharing during an online talk concert with youth aged 20 to 30, saying, "If more COVID-19 treatments and vaccines are developed and distributed someday, it would be good to share and cooperate to end the COVID-19 situation on the Korean Peninsula."

When Minister Lee and the Unification Ministry's position became known at the time, criticism poured in, arguing that it was inappropriate to mention such support when they had not even secured vaccines and treatments for their own citizens.

However, recently, a changing trend regarding COVID-19 vaccine support to North Korea has been detected. It is expected to have a positive function, such as easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula from a humanitarian approach.

Bruce Bennett, a North Korea expert and senior researcher at the RAND Corporation, classified as a hardliner on North Korea, advised in an interview with Radio Free Asia (RFA) in December last year, "Offer humanitarian medical support such as COVID-19 treatments and vaccines on the condition that North Korea does not provoke."

Germany and Austria, chair countries of the UN Security Council's North Korea Sanctions Committee, also hinted at the possibility of indirect support through the 'COVAX Facility' regarding COVID-19 vaccine support to North Korea, RFA reported on the 31st of last month (local time).

COVAX is an organization established by the World Health Organization (WHO), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (GAVI), and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to distribute COVID-19 vaccines equitably worldwide. It aims to supply vaccines equally to 20% of the global population by the end of 2021. Currently, 190 countries and organizations, including South Korea and North Korea, participate.

A German Foreign Ministry official told RFA, "COVAX allows developing countries to access vaccines by receiving funding through development cooperation funds," suggesting the possibility that North Korea could receive COVID-19 vaccines through COVAX.

An Austrian Foreign Ministry official also said, "Since Austria and the European Union (EU) financially support COVAX, developing countries such as North Korea could receive COVID-19 vaccines through COVAX."

On the first day of the New Year, citizens are paying tribute to the statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il at Mansudae in Pyongyang, North Korea.

However, considering factors such as vaccine hoarding by developed countries, the scale of vaccines independently secured by the South Korean government, and the official positions of organizations that have provided COVID-19-related aid to North Korea, it seems difficult for vaccine support to North Korea to materialize in the short term.

UN agencies and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that have provided COVID-19-related aid to North Korea have stated that they have not yet received requests for vaccine support from North Korea nor have plans to supply vaccines.

Shima Islam, Asia-Pacific regional spokesperson for UNICEF, told RFA, "It is too early to say how COVID-19 vaccines will be distributed in North Korea." M?decins Sans Fronti?res, which has provided medical supplies to North Korea, also stated, "There are no plans to supply vaccines to North Korea next year."

International organizations such as Amnesty International and Oxfam, which formed the 'People's Vaccine' coalition for equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, predicted in a report released in December last year that 90% of the populations in 67 low-income countries, including North Korea, will not receive COVID-19 vaccinations this year either.

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