South Korea says it will try to help North Korea amid COVID outbreak

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“If North Korea responds (to our support), we will not spare drugs, including COVID-19 vaccines, medical equipment and health personnel.”

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May 15, 2022 • 3 hours ago • 2 minutes reading • 33 comments Kim Jong Un waves to students and young workers, all unmasked, during a photo shoot in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this undated photo posted by the Korean North Korea Central Center News Agency on May 1, 2022 Photo by KCNA via REUTERS

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SEOUL – South Korean President Yun Suk Yol said on Monday that the country would spare no effort to help North Korea as the isolated nation struggles with the COVID-19 outbreak, and reiterated that it would remain open to humanitarian aid.

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“If North Korea responds (to our support), we will not spare drugs, including vaccines against COVID-19, medical equipment and health personnel,” Yun said in a speech to the plenary session of the National Assembly.

Separately in his speech, Yun added that he would discuss with US President Joe Biden ways to strengthen cooperation on the global supply chain through the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. Biden is scheduled to visit the country this week.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called the growing outbreak of fever “the great shock of the nation’s founding” as state media reported new cases on Saturday.

There were about 296,000 cases of fever with 15 deaths on Saturday, the Korean Central News Agency reported, adding to more than 170,000 cases reported the day before. The total death toll is 42.

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Kim ordered the blockade of major cities after the country said earlier this week that it had discovered a Covid case within its borders. With about 820,000 reported cases since then, Kim has sought to step up quarantine efforts as the epidemic has the potential to devastate a population that relies on an outdated health care system and remains largely malnourished, possibly without vaccines.

At a Labor Party meeting on Saturday, Kim called on officials to be confident they can control the infection, as the outbreak remains confined to certain areas and to learn from other countries, especially China, how to deal with it, Korean Central News reported. the agency.

He also criticized party bodies for “incompetence and lack of responsibility” and called on the political organization to prepare to win the battle.

Until Thursday, North Korea denied any cases of Covid, a claim suspected by experts in the United States, Japan and other countries. He also refused vaccines from the outside world.