Despite claims by Kim Jong-un’s sister that the Supreme Leader was infected with Covid-19, North Korea has declared a ‘shining success’ in its fight against the virus. On Thursday, state-run media reported that Kim requested a relaxation of preventive measures, describing the official death toll of 74 as an ‘exceptional miracle in the history of the entire health community’.
According to the state news agency KCNA’s account of the meeting on Wednesday, Kim stated that “the victory achieved by our people is a historic event that once again shows the world the greatness of our state, the indomitable tenacity of our people, and the beautiful national customs we are proud of.”
His powerful sister, Kim Yo-jong, blamed the pandemic on propaganda leaflets sent across the border in balloons by South Korean activists, and she threatened ‘deadly’ vengeance if Seoul failed to stop them. Furthermore, by claiming that her brother was one of the tens of millions of North Koreans who had a ‘fever’, she implied that he had caught the virus.
“Even though he was seriously ill with a high fever, he couldn’t lie down for a moment thinking about the people he had to care for until the end of the anti-epidemic war,’ she said. North Korea claimed that it had not identified a single case of Covid-19 during the first two years of the pandemic, despite having a weakened healthcare system that was unprepared to handle a large outbreak.
With a population of 26 million, it has reported roughly 4.8 million cases of ‘fever’ since May of this year, but only a small percentage of those cases have been identified as Covid, presumably to avoid public panic and due to a scarcity of testing kits. Experts have questioned North Korea’s official claims of no new cases since July 29, as well as the country’s low death toll. The country has one of the world’s worst healthcare systems, with underfunded hospitals, fewer intensive care units, and no Covid-19 vaccines or treatment options.
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