North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said about a “serious incident” in the field of national health. This was reported by the South Korean agency Yonhap, citing North Korean state media.

By neglecting important decisions by the party in its nationwide emergency response to the virus … the officials in charge provoked a major incident that created a huge crisis for the security of the nation and its people.

Kim Jong-un did not specify what kind of “incident” he was talking about. AFP  and  AP agencies write with reference to experts that the words of the DPRK leader indicate a serious deterioration in the situation with the coronavirus in the country.

Kim Jong-un’s statement was made at a meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea. Also at the meeting, it was announced the dismissal of a number of high-ranking North Korean officials, writes AFP.

The North Korean authorities have never reported to the World Health Organization on the detection of cases of coronavirus in the country.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the DPRK has begun to take measures to protect against covid, including closing borders and introducing quarantines.

In the summer of 2020, the DPRK authorities suspected a coronavirus in a defector from South Korea. Because of this, a quarantine regime was introduced in the border town of Kaesong.

At the end of 2020, the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, citing sources, reported that North Korea had purchased the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine and Chinese diagnostic equipment.

(c)MEDUZA 2021