For more than two years, PyongYang has cut itself off from the world. The country has hermetically sealed its borders. Almost no more exchanges with its Chinese neighbour, strict controls, limited population movements. Recipes that had proven themselves in the face of epidemics in recent decades: Sras, influenza A or Ebola. But the Omicron variant, responsible for an epidemic outbreak throughout the region, ended up infiltrating North Korea. And since Thursday May 12, the number of cases explodes… 50 dead, 1.2 million symptomatic people. Very approximate and most certainly underestimated official figures. The leader Kim Jong-un sees in this epidemic the “biggest turmoil” the country has ever known.
North Korea does not have the means to cope: vaccination rate of the population: 0%. Last year Pyongyang refused three million doses of China’s Sinovac vaccine through the Covax aid program by offering they be offered to countries that needed them most.
Screening capacity: almost zero, it is not with tests but with thermometers that positive cases are detected. Besides, we are not talking about Covid but about epidemic “fever”.
North Korea’s healthcare system is notoriously flawed. In the world ranking carried out last year by the American University Johns-Hopkins, he was 193rd out of 195. There are no FFP2 masks, transport to transport the sick is failing, hospitals and pharmacies lack medicines, intensive care units are rare and power cuts frequent.
What is astonishing is that the North Korean leader himself recognizes these failures: on Sunday May 15, during an emergency meeting of the Politburo, Kim Jong-Un sharply attacked the health authorities for their irresponsible attitude, their inability in particular to enforce the quarantines (we had to find a scapegoat)…
His outburst of anger was widely relayed by the state media, which also widely relayed his appeal to the army, mobilized to “stabilize the distribution of drugs in the capital”. It’s about showing that it’s him who takes things in hand. A virus out of control would be a “nightmare scenario”, a real destabilizing factor for the regime.
Can North Korea accept international aid? It is a politically sensitive subject. But the country’s economic isolation for more than two years has clearly weighed down its economy, already weakened by international sanctions linked to its military programs. A shock that tested his ideology of“self-sufficiency”. Kim Jong-un’s communication operation in recent days may also be a call for help and the country could accept support from China or Russia who have offered themselves. 25 million inhabitants are potentially seriously threatened by the virus, continuing to deny vaccines and aid could cost many lives and would be “an inadmissible breach of the obligation to respect the right to health“said Amnesty International.
On the other hand, it is difficult to respond favorably to Seoul, which offers vaccines, medicines and health personnel, relations between the two neighbors are rather fresh at the moment, the South Korean president recently described North Korea as an enemy. principal of his country. Despite the health crisis, new satellite images also indicate that North Korea has resumed the construction of a nuclear reactor hitherto interrupted. Washington and Seoul suspect Pyongyang of preparing a new nuclear test.