North Korea’s new crown epidemic rapidly worsens, South Korea’s new president reaches out to help**
The new South Korean President Yoon Seok-wyeh said that South Korea will spare no effort to help North Korea deal with the sudden new crown epidemic.
“If North Korea responds, we will do our best to provide medicines, including a new crown vaccine, medical equipment and medical personnel,” he said in a speech to the South Korean parliament on Monday (May 16, 2022).
Earlier in the day, North Korean state media reported that authorities on Sunday reported 390,000 new cases of fever and eight deaths, bringing the known death toll to 50.
KCNA said the Workers’ Party Politburo held another emergency meeting the day before, at which leader Kim Jong Un harshly criticized the delay in transferring medicines from the state stockpile to pharmacies. Pharmacies are instructed to be open 24 hours a day on weekends.
KCNA said Kim Jong-un issued an order to mobilize the resources of the People’s Army, including medical personnel, to support the operation to stockpile pharmacies in the capital, Pyongyang. Kim Jong-un called for “being vigilant in the fierce battle against the epidemic”, blaming the cabinet and public officials for their “irresponsible work attitude and ability to execute.”
On Thursday, North Korea for the first time declared a coronavirus outbreak in the capital, Pyongyang, calling it the nation’s greatest emergency. Authorities immediately ordered a nationwide lockdown. KCNA said at the time that medical staff collected samples from some residents in Pyongyang on May 8 and found that they were infected with the highly contagious variant of the new coronavirus, Omikron, but did not provide details such as the number of infected people or the source of the virus’ transmission. .
North Korea’s testing capacity appears to be limited as it has not confirmed other coronavirus test results since then, even as it publishes daily reports on how the “explosive” spread of unexplained fevers has grown.
Until Thursday, authorities had insisted that there had been no cases of the virus, but the international community was skeptical because of the outbreaks in South Korea and China, which border North Korea.
Authorities in Pyongyang have so far rejected Covid-19 vaccines from other countries, as well as the UN-backed COVAX Covid-19 vaccine distribution plan. The World Health Organization said earlier that North Korea was one of only two countries that had yet to start vaccinations.
Analysts say that means North Korea’s entire medical system could collapse in the event of an outbreak.
Some scholars in South Korea believe that Kim Jong-un urgently convened a special meeting of the Politburo, and the official media immediately reported it, which may indicate that the epidemic is very urgent, and may also be sending a signal to the outside world for help.
After Yun Xiyue took office as South Korean president, she said that the government will separate political disputes from humanitarian aid and is willing to open the door to humanitarian aid for North Korea.
In his inaugural speech on May 10, Yoon Seok-yue, 61, said North Korea’s weapons development program posed a threat to South Korea and surrounding regions, but he was ready to offer a “bold” economic development plan in exchange for Pyongyang’s commitment to denuclearization. promise.