Loudspeakers blaring hygiene messages, foreign ambassadors locked in their compounds and state media demanding “absolute obedience” to health authorities — North Korea is taking what diplomats call “unprecedented” measures as it seeks to prevent a crippling COVID-19 outbreak.
The authoritarian state, led by the ruling Kim family since its foundation in 1948, maintains extensive control over the lives of its citizens and is pulling out all the stops to try to protect itself from the virus that first emerged in China, long its key diplomatic ally and trade partner.
After the virus emerged, North Korea quickly closed its borders, cutting itself off from the outside world in a move diplomats and analysts have said is its best method of self-protection given the weakness of its health infrastructure.
Arrivals are subject to 30 days’ isolation and the government has stepped up its efforts internally, with the official Korean Central News Agency describing an intensifying “anti-virus campaign,” including door-to-door health checkups and loudspeaker vans instructing citizens on hygiene practices.
Foreigners are facing tough restrictions: All of those resident in the country have been subjected to quarantine at their premises since the beginning of this month.
Pyongyang said that it remains the only one of China’s neighbors not to have had a single case.
Observers doubt that, but the Rodong Sinmun, the official mouthpiece of the Workers’ Party, urged citizens to show “absolute obedience” to instructions from health authorities and the state.
“We should bear in mind that any moment of complacency could result in irreversible catastrophic consequences and should maintain a high state of alert,” it said.
Earlier this week, it warned of “devastating consequences” if the country suffers even one case of COVID-19, recommending people avoid gathering in public places — even restaurants.
“Sitting down and dining together and talking with each other can itself become the main spreading ground of the infectious disease,” it said.
However, state duties do not appear to be subject to such restrictions: Yesterday it carried pictures of scores of Supreme People’s Assembly officials lining up to visit the supposed birthplace of Kim Jong-il, the father and predecessor of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, at Mount Paektu. All of them wore masks.
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