North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong Un has admitted serious mistakes in the country’s fight against the coronavirus that would have sparked a major crisis. However, the ruler does not see himself to be blamed for this.
Serious mistakes in the fight against the corona virus have plunged North Korea into a crisis, according to ruler Kim Jong Un. At an expanded meeting of the Politburo of the ruling Labor Party in Pyongyang, Kim blamed “high-ranking officials” for the crisis and accused them of negligence.
The officials had brought about a “decisive case” that had triggered a major crisis for the security of the state and the population, Kim was quoted as saying by the state-controlled media on Wednesday. What happened and what the specific security risks are was not mentioned in the reports.
“Basically, North Korea has confirmed corona cases”
According to the state news agency KCNA, several members of the Politburo of the Central Committee and the Presidium of the Politburo have been dismissed. Accordingly, new officials took their place. According to Kim, the cadres concerned also face legal consequences. “Now is the time to revolutionize human resource management before the acute economic problems are resolved.”
This message “basically means that North Korea has confirmed cases,” Ahn Chan Il of the World Institute for North Korea Studies in Seoul told AFP news agency with regard to the corona pandemic. “The fact that the Politburo has discussed this and that the KCNA has reported on it signals that Pyongyang is likely to need international help,” he added.
The Politburo meeting was reportedly convened on Tuesday to deal with the negligence of party and state leaders who failed to implement the party’s decisions. It is about measures that the “prevention campaign” required against the global health crisis.
The largely isolated North Korea is one of the few countries that has not yet reported a single case of Sars-CoV-2 infection. The country had already closed the borders early on and set up a “national emergency system” against the virus. However, observers assume that diseases have already occurred. The impoverished country’s ailing health system and lack of medical care would make it difficult to cope with a major corona outbreak.
The self-imposed closure of the borders has isolated the country more than ever: trade with China has fallen sharply and all international aid workers have left the country. This month, the leadership in Pyongyang admitted that there was a food crisis. The authoritarian-ruled country is also suffering severely from the international sanctions it is subject to because of its nuclear and missile program.
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