North Korean defectors within the South have dismissed accusations from Pyongyang that balloons floated over the border and carrying medicines, money and propaganda messages are the reason for the coronavirus pandemic within the North.
Speaking to DW, the founding father of Fighters for a Free North Korea mentioned Pyongyang’s claims are “nonsense,” and merely an effort to deflect blame away from the regime’s incompetence in coping with the pandemic and a essential scarcity of medicines for civilians.
‘Malignant fever’
North Korean well being authorities admitted their first case of coronavirus on May 12, greater than two years after the regime sealed the nation’s borders in what it mentioned was an effort to cease the virus from gaining a foothold within the nation.
Since then, nearly 25 million circumstances have been reported, though only some sufferers have formally examined constructive for the virus.
On May 19, state media reported 262,270 new circumstances of an unidentified “fever” and one demise toll, bringing the official demise toll to 63.
As of May 15, there have been 240,459 sufferers handled for the “malignant virus” in Pyongyang – round 7% of town’s inhabitants, Korean Central Television reported.
Pyongyang says 99.98% of its 4.77 million fever sufferers since late April have absolutely recovered, however due to an obvious lack of testing, it has not revealed any information for those that examined constructive.
On July 1, North Korean authorities introduced that that they had discovered the supply of the epidemic within the North, tracing the route of the an infection again to the small village of Ipho-ri, some 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of the Demilitarized Zone that divides the Korean Peninsula.
‘Alien issues coming by wind’
North Korean state media attributed the COVID-19 outbreak within the nation to “alien issues coming by wind,” and touchdown near the border with the South.
Korean Central News Agency mentioned the supply of the outbreak was an 18-year-old soldier and a five-year-old youngster who got here into contact with objects close to the border.
State-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper wrote that the soldier and youngster “got here into contact with alien issues on a hill near a barracks and residential quarters in Ipho-ri in April.” The paper urged residents to “deal vigilantly” with the “alien issues,” in addition to “different local weather phenomena and balloons.”
The time period “alien issues” is known to imply balloons despatched over the border from the South.
Medical consultants have rejected claims that the balloons are able to transferring coronavirus.
Why Pyongyang fears balloons from South Korea
And Park Sang-hak, 54, who fled from the North in 2000 and is the founding father of Fighters for a Free North Korea, says his group by no means despatched any balloons over the border in early April because the winds have been blowing within the fallacious path.
“We have despatched balloons seven instances to this point this yr and we’re planning extra launches within the close to future,” Park informed DW. The final launch was on July 6, when 20 giant balloons stuffed with helium have been launched from a web site west of Seoul carrying 30,000 vitamin C tablets, 70,000 tablets to cut back fevers and 20,000 face masks.
The balloons additionally carried leaflets and banners suspended beneath them denying Pyongyang’s declare that the virus was being spread by the balloons and inspiring folks to assist themselves to the medicines they carried.
The banners learn, “We denounced Kim Jong Un, a hypocrite who let the vicious infectious illness from China spread and put the blame on anti-North leaflets.”
“They are telling folks the balloons are harmful as they don’t want folks to select them up and skim the propaganda leaflets,” Park mentioned. “They need to management need folks suppose and conceal the reality about how the virus has spread as a result of there may be not sufficient medication or well being care.”
Concerns over retaliation
The balloons have caught Pyongyang’s consideration, with the weekly Tongil Shinbo condemning the launches and warning that the response would “exceed the destruction” of the North-South liaison workplace that passed off within the border city of Kaesong in June 2020.
Previously, the Kim Jong Un regime has warned that it might hearth throughout the border at any teams it detects launching balloons to cross the border.
“They take this very critically as a result of the leaflets all the time criticize Kim Jong Un, and that isn’t acceptable in North Korea,” mentioned Ahn Yinhay, a professor of worldwide relations at Korea University in Seoul. “They are very delicate and any assault on their ruling household is taken into account to be treason.
“They have made threats on a number of events previously, however they haven’t really fired over the border and into the South but, so let’s hope that state of affairs continues,” she mentioned. “The drawback is that they’re very unpredictable, and it’s unattainable to say that they may undoubtedly not hearth on the launch websites. We simply need to hope.”
Park mentioned he’ll “proceed to ship balloons and to inform folks within the North the reality.” “I’ll cease, however solely when the folks of North Korea are let loose from Kim Jong-un and his household.”