'Cheonghae Unit Incident' Mentioned by North Korean Media... Criticism of Inadequate COVID-19 Response

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] North Korean media has indirectly criticized the military's inadequate response by pointing out the COVID-19 mass infection incident in the Cheonghae Unit for the first time.

North Korea's external propaganda outlet, Tongil-ui Mea-ri (Echo of Unification), reported on the 25th, citing domestic media, that "271 out of 301 personnel of the South Korean Navy's Cheonghae Unit were infected with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19)."

Tongil-ui Mea-ri stated, "The media revealed that 90.03% of the unit's personnel were infected, and that the mass infection incident among the soldiers was caused by the military's poor response."

It also cited domestic media pointing out that the Ministry of National Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff's 'Overseas Dispatch Unit Contingency Manual' lacks sections on infectious disease crisis management and response, and that the crisis management guidelines do not specifically address infectious diseases in detail.

Although the Joint Chiefs of Staff issued a COVID-19 response manual to the unit in June last year, the contents have been kept secret. It also reported that there are criticisms among officials regarding the Navy supplying the unit with rapid antibody test kits, which are difficult to diagnose COVID-19 in its early stages, with some saying it was due to their 'low price.'

Tongil-ui Mea-ri conveyed that "The media emphasized that the Navy's upper echelon became complacent even after the first infection occurred, which worsened the situation, and stressed the need to thoroughly uncover the truth of this incident."

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