Decryption

Covid in North Korea: what political consequences?

Audio 7:30 p.m.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wears a mask during an address broadcast on state television in which he acknowledges the country's first case of COVID-19, Thursday, May 12, 2022, in Pyongyang, Korea North.

© AP

By: Anne Corpet Follow

1 min

In mid-May 2022, Kim Jong Un first appeared in front of North Koreans with a mask on his face.

The regime which until then claimed to have succeeded in confining the coronavirus outside its borders had to admit it: the COVID has arrived in the country.

" 

This epidemic is the greatest disaster that has befallen our country since its founding

 ," said the North Korean dictator.

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The admission of a health crisis comes as, according to the South Korean intelligence services, North Korea has completed its preparations for the realization of a new nuclear test, the seventh in its history and the first since five years.

The American security services even expected a show of force during Joe Biden's stay in the region.

For now, Pyong Yang has abstained.

Does the epidemic emergency reduce the risks of a major provocation from North Korea?

Will the North Korean authorities resolve to call for help to curb the epidemic?

How can the health crisis influence North Korean politics?

These are the questions we will try to answer today. 

- Marianne Péron-Doise

, researcher on Asia at IRSEM (Strategic Research Institute of the Military School) and lecturer at Sciences Po Paris

- Barthélémy Courmont

, professor at the Catholic University of Lille and director of research at IRIS on Asia-Pacific, author of 

China-United States, the big gap.

Crisis in globalization

 (VA editions). 

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  • North Korea

  • South Korea

  • United States

  • Coronavirus

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