North Korean authorities announced yesterday a "severe emergency" after they suspected the first infection with the emerging coronavirus (Covid-19), and ordered the imposition of a stone on the city of Kaesong in the south of the country, where the case was recorded.
The North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, chaired an emergency meeting of the ruling party's political bureau to implement a "maximum emergency system and a declaration of the highest levels of alert" in order to contain the virus, the North Korean News Agency reported. If confirmed, this would be the first case of "Covid-19" officially registered in North Korea.
"The suspicions relate to a person who fled to the south three years ago and returned on July 19, after illegally crossing the border demarcation line with South Korea," the North Korean Central News Agency said. It is extremely rare for people to cross from the south to the north through the demilitarized zone that divides the Korean peninsula, which - contrary to what its name suggests - is one of the most militarized regions in the world.
North Korean media and defectors reported that the person suspected of being infected with the virus was 24 years old, and he returned to the north with a swimming pool, after his name was mentioned in an investigation into the crime of rape. The official agency said he was found in the border town of Kaesong with South Korea, noting that "he was initially put under strict quarantine with all the people who had mixed with him."
For his part, Kim Jong Un called during an emergency meeting of the Political Bureau to impose "a maximum emergency system and a high-level declaration of preparedness to contain the epidemic." "The evil virus appears to have entered the country," he said, explaining that "the government took precautionary measures by imposing a complete closure on the city of Kaesong" on July 24.
The suspect was a defector and returned to the north with a swimming pool.