In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shakes hands with a health official in Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday, August 10, 2022.
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In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shakes hands with a health official in Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday, August 10, 2022.
AP
SEOUL, South Korea – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declares victory over COVID-19 at a national meeting where his sister, in a particularly warlike speech, said Kim had a fever herself and dubiously blamed South Korea for the outbreak while swearing deadly retaliation.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said on Thursday that Kim ordered the easing of containment measures just three months after the country first acknowledged an outbreak of the disease. The country’s widely disputed success will be recognized as a global health miracle.
Seen for the first time to speak on TV, his powerful sister said Mr Kim had developed a fever while touting his “era-making” leadership and she blamed North Korea’s outbreak for the outbreak. due to leaflets flying across the border from Korea.
North Korea’s claims about its outbreak are widely questioned and are believed to be aimed at helping Kim maintain absolute control of the country. Some experts believe the victory declaration signaled Kim’s intention to move on to other priorities but fear his sister’s remarks were a provocation.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which deals with inter-Korean affairs, issued a statement expressing regret over “extremely disrespectful and threatening comments” by North Korea based on “unreasonable statements.” reason” about their source of infection.
The North blames the balloons from the South for COVID-19
In July, North Korea first suggested that its COVID-19 outbreak began in people who came into contact with objects carried by balloons from South Korea – a questionable and unscientific claim. appears to be an attempt to hold their opponents accountable.
Since North Korea acknowledged an omicron virus outbreak in May, it reported about 4.8 million “fever cases” out of a population of 26 million but identified only a fraction of them as COVID-19. It has claimed that the outbreak has been slowing down for weeks and only 74 people have died.
“Since we started the maximum emergency anti-epidemic campaign (in May), daily fever cases that amounted to hundreds of thousands in the early days of the outbreak have dropped to less than 90,000 a month later, and continuously decreasing, and not having a single fever, Mr. Kim said in his speech Wednesday at the national meeting, where he announced how to respond to the new pandemic.
“For a country that has yet to use a single shot of a vaccine, our success in overcoming the spread of the disease in such a short time and restoring public health safety. and making our nation a virus-free clean region is an amazing thing According to KCNA, the miracle will be recorded in the world’s public health history”.
Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.
The West is worried about possible tests from the North
South Korean and US officials say North Korea may be preparing for its first nuclear test in five years as it conducts multiple weapons tests this year, including missile demonstrations. first transcontinental route since 2017.
The provocative test, experts say, underscores Kim’s dual intent to bolster his arsenal and put pressure on the Biden administration over long-stalled negotiations. to leverage nuclear weapons for necessary sanctions relief and security concessions.
Kim Jun-rak, a spokesman for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Thursday said the South Korean military is maintaining a solid readiness and preparing for “various possibilities” of actions. North Korean provocation.
Kim Yo Jong’s eloquent words are causing concern because it suggests she will try to blame any COVID-19 resurgence on the South and is also seeking to justify the provocation. North Korea’s next military force, Easley said.
Activists have for years ballooned across the border to distribute hundreds of thousands of propaganda leaflets critical of Kim, and North Korea has often expressed anger at activists and the South Korean leadership. Quoc for not stopping them.
During Wednesday’s meeting, Kim Yo Jong reiterated those statements, calling the virus crisis in the country a “crazy farce” unleashed by South Korea to escalate confrontation.
“The (Korean) puppets are still throwing leaflets and dirty objects into our territory. We have to fight it firmly,” she said. “We have come up with various countermeasures, but our countermeasure must be a deadly retaliation.”
North Korean state television showed some members of the audience crying as she talked about her brother’s alleged fever – a reference not further explained. The crowd clapped and cheered as she vowed that North Korea would “destroy not only the virus but also government agencies (South Korea)” if “the enemy continues dangerous acts that could bring the virus into the country.” our republic.”
While Kim Yo Jong has made numerous speeches and statements in recent years as one of the most powerful members of his brother’s leadership, Thursday marked the first time that the medium North Korean media broadcast video and audio of her reciting the entire speech, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said. The prominence of her speech in the state media reflects her rising status and may have been aimed at thwarting the threat transmitted to the South.
North Korea’s claims about how the outbreak broke out contradict outside experts, who believe the omicron variant spread as the country briefly reopened its border with China to transport goods. in January and rose even higher after the military parade and other large-scale events in Pyongyang in April.
In May, Kim Jong Un banned travel between cities and counties to slow the spread of the virus. But he also stressed that his economic goals must be met, which means huge groups continue to congregate in agricultural, industrial and construction sites.
At the virus meeting, Kim called for the easing of precautions and the country maintaining vigilance and effective border control, citing the global spread of novel coronavirus variants and smallpox in monkey.
