Like no other country, North Korea could do with help against COVID-19.
The country’s population is unvaccinated and susceptible to disease due to chronic malnourishment. Its dilapidated healthcare system lacks supplies of basic drugs and equipment.
But even as North Korea faces the prospec t of a humanitarian catastrophe amid its first officially confirmed coronavirus outbreak h, Pyongyang is steadfastly refusing offers of international assistance.
The United States and South Korea have not received a response to offers to help tackle the outbreak, including by sending aid, according to South Korean officials.
The World Health Organization, which is “deeply concerned at the risk of further spread”, said the country had not responded to requests for information about the outbreak.
UNICEF said on Thursday it had proposed a “package of support that could help protect health workers and manage caseloads” but had not yet been able to contact its partners in the country.
At the same time, there are signs North Korea has turned to China, its neighbour and traditional ally, for assistance, although this has not been confirmed by either side. Air Koryo, the state airline, has operated several flights to China to obtain pandemic-related supplies in recent days, according to several South Korean news outlets, citing anonymous sources.
North Korea, whose dynastic leadership proclaims an official ideology of self-reliance known as “juche”, has long been known for its secrecy and hostility towards the outside world.
In January 2020, the country, which is ruled by third-generation dictator Kim Jong Un, became one of the first countries to seal its borders in response to coronavirus. Despite spiralling cases worldwide, Pyongyang repeatedly refused to accept offers of coronavirus vaccines from the international community, including the UN-backed initiative COVAX.
Until last week, the North, which is officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), had not reported a single case of COVID-19, a record doubted by many analysts given the virus’s transmissibility and the country’s long, porous border with China.
Aljazeera
