As North Korea faces a severe COVID-19 outbreak, leader Kim Jong Un has said that the country’s officials had dealt with the matter “immaturely,” according to Reuters.
Following that same sentiment, Kim stated he believes the country should handle the epidemic the same way China has, as he deems the Chinese lockdowns successful.
However, a primary difference between China and North Korea is that the latter lacks sufficient resources to initiate lockdowns comparable to those in the more-equipped country. North Korea does not possess the food and medical supply needed to isolate its residents to such an extent.
North Korean citizens have utilized informal markets since the collapse of the country’s ration system in the 90s. An intense lockdown would bar them from accessing these markets, which in turn would have a detrimental effect on the population.
Additionally, despite its resources, China still struggled to lock down its population. While the nation was able to quickly set up mass testing locations and vaccination sites, it could not adequately support and cater to the needs of its citizens during the lockdowns.
During the past two years of the pandemic, North Korea called itself COVID-19-free. However, last Thursday, the country announced it was experiencing an “explosive” outbreak, reporting over 18,000 cases. Hundreds of thousands are thought to have been infected each day since.
It is impossible to know the actual number of infections. The country is not enabled to perform mass testing, so officials are using the presence of fever as the primary indication of COVID-19 infection. Suspected infections total nearly 1.7 million, with 62 reported deaths. According to The New York Times, a state media outlet claimed that 1 million people had recovered from the illness.
Jacob Lee, a specialist in infectious diseases at Hallym University Medical Center in South Korea, said, “I don’t think North Korea is honest with the number of deaths. It is likely playing that number down to help control its people.”
It is unknown how truthful North Korea is with numbers concerning the outbreak. To put into perspective how secretive the country can be: North Korea experienced a famine in the 1990s that killed an estimated 2 million people. The world remained oblivious until bodies began washing up on the shore of a Chinese river.
According to Reuters, the Korean Central News Agency reported that the country is making strides in collecting and testing COVID-19 samples and setting up additional quarantine facilities.
However, per The New York Times, officials from Seoul attempted to set up a meeting to discuss pandemic-related aid earlier this week, and North Korea rebuffed the invite.
In addition, the country has refused donations of vaccines, saying other countries that could use it more. It has also been reported that there were concerns about side effects and efficacy.