(Seoul) The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un accused Seoul of causing the COVID-19 outbreak in her country and threatened ‘retaliation’, state media reported on Thursday, a day later. where Pyongyang declared its “victory” over the disease.
Posted yesterday at 10:46 p.m.
Kim Yo Jong attacked the sending of propaganda flyers by balloons from South Korea, citing a “crime against humanity”, reported the official KCNA news agency.
Pyongyang had previously blamed “foreign things” near the border with the South for causing the outbreak of COVID-19 in the isolated country, claims Seoul dismissed.
Despite a ban imposed in 2021, South Korean activists continue to send balloons containing leaflets and dollar bills, sparking protests from Pyongyang.
Mme Kim said many countries and the WHO have recognized “the danger of spreading an infectious disease by coming into contact with contaminated objects,” according to the article.
“It is very worrying that South Korea is sending leaflets, money, brochures and dirty objects to our region,” she added.
Kim Yo Jong warned that Pyongyang was considering “strong retaliation”, adding that, if the balloons continue, “we will respond by eradicating, not just the virus, but also the South Korean authorities”.
Seoul assured in June that there were “no officially verified cases of COVID-19 infection by mail or through material”.
The threats come after her brother declared a “resounding victory” in the battle against COVID-19, after two weeks with no new officially announced cases.
The country’s hospitals are notoriously under-equipped, with few intensive care units and no coronavirus treatment or vaccine available, experts say.
Kim Jong-un also appears to have contracted COVID-19, according to his sister.
The leader “suffered from high fevers during the days of this quarantine war, but he couldn’t lie down for a moment, because he was thinking about the people he was responsible for”, his sister said.