South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has offered to send vaccines against Covid-19 to North Korea in the aftermath of the announcement of the country's first outbreak in more than two years of the pandemic.
"President Yoon Suk-yeol has plans to provide vaccines and other medical supplies," spokesman Kang In-sun said in a statement, assuring that "discussions will be held with the North Korean side on the details."
Pyongyang, on the other hand, said today that six people have died (including the Omicron variant) after a fever has spread "explosively" in the country, affecting 350,000 people since the end of April.
Yoon's spokesperson also noted in his note that "suspected cases are increasing explosively due to a massive outbreak."
After having claimed for over two years to be a country free from the new coronavirus, the North reported its first case of Covid on Thursday by launching the "maximum emergency" control system.
Official Hermit State media today released new information on the situation, explaining that one of six people who died after a fever spread "explosively" was "confirmed to be infected with the Omicron variant";
wrote the agency Kcna.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un "criticized that the simultaneous spread of the fever with the capital area as the epicenter showed that there is a vulnerability in the epidemic prevention system we have already established," speaking during a visit to the state epidemic prevention headquarters.
A presidential official in Seoul, quoted by Yonhap, said North Korea has yet to respond to the South Korean offer and that the decision to send aid has not been discussed in advance with the United States.