The North Korean regime chartered a flight to the Russian Far East on Monday carrying dozens of diplomats and other foreigners as the communist regime intensifies its lockdown against the coronavirus.
Dozens of masked travelers reportedly checked in to Pyongyang International Airport for their flight to Vladivostok Monday morning, some with their families, as health workers scanned them for fevers. The exact number of passengers is unknown.
Officials recently lifted a month-long quarantine on all foreign diplomats, allowing them to leave the country if necessary. Although the regime has yet to admit a single case of the virus within its borders, state media has striven to create the image of a committed, dramatic response to the outbreak.
Some measures Pyongyang claims to have implemented include the banning of all foreign tourists, suspending practically all cross-border traffic with China where the virus originated, increasing observation at entry points, and mobilizing health workers to monitor residents and isolate those suspected of carrying it. Last month, the regime also took the unusual step of canceling two major annual festivals in Pyongyang celebrating the birthday of late dictator Kim Jong-il over fears it would bring about further contagion.
According to Radio Free Asia, health authorities have also launched a nationwide school sanitation project, but rather than properly fund it, the state has asked parents to pay for their schools. The projects will reportedly cost around 30,000 North Korean won ($3.75) per student, well over half the average monthly salary of $5.
Despite the refusal of authorities to confirm any cases of the virus, sources from inside told Daily NK that at least 200 soldiers had already died from the virus, while an estimated 3,700 are under quarantine. The deaths have reportedly sent the country’s military leadership into a state of panic and they have since demanded that all corpses be “thoroughly disinfected” rather than cremated.
“There’s just too many bodies [to be cremated in the military] and they didn’t want news [of the cremations] to leak outside the military,” the source said. “I haven’t heard of corpses being cremated in military hospitals. The military leadership likely believes that suddenly asking the hospitals to cremate all the bodies would create a big headache for medical staff.”
The source also revealed that military authorities have promised to punish those who fail to adequately follow their instructions. In North Korean military terms, punishment often involves imprisonment, torture, or death.
“Future evaluations on battle readiness will include a review of how many soldiers have died,” he explained. “[Officers will] be held responsible for the deaths that have occurred in their units.”
Military logistics authorities have also been advised to increase soldiers’ food rations despite food shortages. Under current rations, many members of the military are chronically malnourished, leading to stunted growth and other health issues.
“Officials in charge of the military’s logistics operations are stressing that soldiers are supplied at least 800 grams worth of food per day,” the source said. “They also are emphasizing that soldiers eat three meals of pureed soybean soup per day, instead of the usual one per day.”
World Health Organization officials allegedly share these concerns, warning an epidemic is particularly dangerous in a poverty-stricken country like North Korea because its health system is woefully under-resourced.
“Our greatest concern is the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems, and which are ill-prepared to deal with it,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said last month.
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