On Sunday the totalitarian regimes’ news agency reported a North Korean citizen had contracted the disease after crossing the border into South Korea and bringing it back with them. Now Kim Jong-un has convened an emergency politburo meeting over the matter but the case has yet to be officially confirmed. To date, North Korean authorities have said the country has never had a coronavirus case.
According to the reclusive regime’s state news the person who brought coronavirus into North Korea from its southern counterpart had crossed into South Korea three years ago but then decided to return home.
This is an unusual move as most citizens of Norther Korea would never voluntarily return to the country after escaping for fear of punishment at the hands of the authorities.
North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said: “An emergency event happened in Kaesong City where a runaway who went to the south three years ago, a person who is suspected to have been infected with the vicious virus, returned on July 19 after illegally crossing the demarcation line.”
This is a sign that the ruling party cannot hide the growing amount of coronavirus cases in the country any longer.
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Kaesong City, which borders the South, “was put under strict quarantine”.
North Korean media stated there was now a “dangerous situation that may lead to a deadly and destructive disaster”.
Leader Kim Jong un was quoted as saying, “the vicious virus could be said to have entered the country”, and North Korean authorities took the “preemptive measure of totally blocking Kaesong City”.
However, South Korea said it cannot verify this and that it has had no reports of any persons crossing the border.
The border, or demilitarised zone, is under constant heavy surveillance.
North Korea closed its borders six months ago when coronavirus became a pandemic after the initial outbreak in Wuhan.
The citizens of the country are used to being isolated from the outside world, but the regime increased its reclusive attitude since the virus began sweeping the globe.
At the beginning of July North Korean leader Kim Jong-un triumphantly declared his country was a “shining success” in dealing with coronavirus.