07/26/2020 - 11:59
- Clarín.com
- World
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared the "highest alert" in the country after the discovery of the first official coronavirus "suspected case" . Kim chaired an emergency meeting of the Communist Party's political office, in which it was decided to activate "a high alert system" to contain Covid-19, as announced by the state-run KCNA news agency.
Kim also declared the city of Kaesong near the border with South Korea under full quarantine , state media reported Sunday.
The apparently positive case would involve a North Korean person who three years ago left for South Korea and returned on July 19, "after having illegally crossed the dividing line" through the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). . On this subject, the border city of Kaesong was put on a blockade. Due to the pandemic, North Korea was in a "state of emergency," but now changed that range to "maximum alert."
Kim also instructed on "organizational actions and measures" to be implemented in different party bodies and in health and national security institutions, according to the KCNA.
"Despite the intense anti-epidemic measures applied in all areas and the strict closure of all routes of entry in the last six months, there has been a critical situation whereby the aggressive virus could have entered the country, " Kim said during the meeting held the day before.
The allegedly affected person was placed under "strict quarantine" after symptoms were detected and various medical tests were performed with "uncertain results."
It was also reported that the North Korean authorities have also carried out tests and isolated all the people who had contact with him , the state agency detailed.
The Pyonyang authorities are conducting a "thorough investigation" of the military unit deployed in the border area through which the deserter entered, with a view to "taking the necessary measures" and "administering a severe punishment" to those responsible for its occurrence. that illegal incursion.
The meeting of the political bureau of the Workers' Party also had the participation by videoconference of different organs of power of the regime and with officials of the North Korean center against epidemics, among other political, military and health officials, according to KCNA data.
South Korea, for its part, believes there is a "high possibility" of an illegal crossing at the border, an unidentified South Korean military official explained, according to the Yonhap news agency. The South Korean joint military command was also trying this Sunday to verify the details of the incident, and so far has not confirmed whether the person who crossed the border was a North Korean defector.
Although the true extent of the pandemic in North Korea is unknown, to date the Kim regime has not officially notified the World Health Organization of any cases.