SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – A huge number of North Koreans, including leader Kim Jong Un, attended the funeral of a senior official, state media reported on Monday, as the country maintains the much-disputed claim that its alleged coronavirus epidemic is fading.
After acknowledging an outbreak of the highly contagious version of omicron earlier this month, North Korea only said how many people have a fever a day and identified only a handful of cases as COVID-19. State media reported Monday that 2.8 million people have contracted unidentified fever, but only 68 have died since late April, an extremely low death rate if the disease is COVID-19, as suspected.
North Korea has limited opportunities to test so many sick people, but some experts say it also likely reduced mortality to protect Kim from political harm.
The official Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim attended the funeral on Sunday of Hyun Chol He, a Marshal of the Korean People’s Army who played a key role in preparing him for the country’s next leader before Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, died. at the end of 2011
At one of the largest state funerals in the country since his father’s death, Kim Jong Un carried Hyun’s coffin naked with other senior officials wearing masks before throwing his finger into his grave with his hands in the national cemetery. Kim and hundreds of masked soldiers and officials also bowed deep in front of Hyun’s grave, state television footage showed.
State television previously showed thousands of other masked soldiers dressed in olive green uniforms gathered in Pyongyang Square, taking off their hats and paying their respects in silence before a funeral limousine carrying Hyun’s body left for the cemetery. The KCNA said “many” soldiers and citizens also took to the streets to express their condolences.
Kim often arranges large funerals for deceased senior officials loyal to his ruling family, and shows a human side in a possible attempt to enlist the support of the country’s ruling elite and strengthen internal unity.
KCNA quotes Kim as saying that “Hyun Chol Hae’s name will always be remembered along with Kim Jong Il’s August name.” He burst into tears when he visited a mourning station set up for Hyun last week.
During Sunday’s funeral, most people, with the exception of Kim Jong Un and the honor guard, wore masks. The ongoing outbreak in the north was probably caused by the military parade on April 25 and related events, which attracted large crowds of people who did not wear masks.
North Korea maintains a nationwide blockade and other strict rules to limit the virus outbreak. Movement from region to region is banned, but key agricultural, economic and other industrial activities continue in an apparent effort to minimize damage to the country’s already stagnant economy.
The KCNA said on Monday that 167,650 new cases of fever had been detected in the last 24 hours, a remarkable drop from a peak of about 390,000 reported about a week ago. It says another person has died and that the death rate from fever is 0.002%.
“All the people of (North Korea) maintain the current favorable turn in the anti-epidemic campaign with maximum awareness, in response to the call of the party’s central committee to defend their precious lives and future with confidence in a sure victory and redoubled efforts. Said KCNA.
Experts question North Korea’s estimates, given that 26 million people in North Korea are mostly unvaccinated and about 40 percent are reportedly malnourished. The public health system is almost broken and in a chronic shortage of medicines and consumables. In South Korea, where most of its 52 million people have been fully vaccinated, COVID-19 mortality is 0.13% on Monday.
South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers last week that some cases of fever reported by North Korea involved people suffering from other diseases such as measles, typhoid and whooping cough. But some civilian experts believe most of the cases are COVID-19.
Before acknowledging the outbreak of Omicron on May 12, North Korea insisted it was virus-free throughout the pandemic. He rejected millions of vaccines offered by the UN-backed COVAX distribution program and did not respond to proposals for drugs and other aid from South Korea and the United States.
The World Health Organization also asked for more information about the outbreak, but received no response.
Some observers say North Korea will receive aid only from China, its last major ally, because Western aid supplies could hurt Kim’s leadership, as he has repeatedly called for “self-reliance” to fight US-led pressure campaigns.
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Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung contributed to this report.
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