"North Korea: COVID-19 Outbreak Is a Disaster... Will Be Difficult to Handle"

"Strict Isolation Policy So Far... Difficult to Trace Infection Routes"
"Lack of Transparency in North Korean Regime Also a Major Risk"

North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un visited the National Emergency Anti-epidemic Command on the 12th to inspect the COVID-19 prevention status and understand the nationwide transmission situation, Chosun Central TV reported on the 13th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Wooseok] Amid the recent outbreak of COVID-19 in North Korea, foreign media have analyzed that North Korea is virtually unable to manage the infectious disease.

CNN reported on the 15th (local time), citing the Korean Central News Agency, that so far 42 people have died from COVID-19 in North Korea, and the number of fever patients has reached 820,620.

It added, "Considering the world's most vulnerable public health system and the fact that most residents have not been vaccinated, this is worrisome," and analyzed, "Given the characteristics of the world's most isolated and opaque regime, it is difficult to estimate the actual situation."

It also reported that it is difficult to identify the virus transmission route because North Korea has enforced such strict isolation policies that even trade with China has been cut off.

CNN stated, "The outbreak of COVID-19 in North Korea is a disaster," and pointed out, "Due to the collapsed medical system and lack of testing equipment, it will be virtually impossible to care for a large number of patients caused by a highly contagious disease in North Korea. The lack of transparency in the North Korean regime and its unwillingness to share information is also another risk."

It then cited North Korea's great famine in the 1990s, known as the 'Arduous March,' as an example, saying, "North Korea has not disclosed how many people died during the famine in the 1990s," and "Experts estimate that more than 2 million people died, and only those who escaped North Korea at the time share horrific experiences."

According to Choi Jeong-hoon, a surgeon who escaped from North Korea in 2011, North Korea did not have the resources for continuous quarantine or isolation during the measles epidemic in 2006 and 2007.

He said that although the guidelines require symptomatic patients to be transferred to hospitals or isolated, those guidelines are not followed, and "If sufficient food is not provided at hospitals or isolation facilities, people escape to find food."

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