N Korea’s Ebola measures queried
DANDONG, China: When it comes to North Korea, there is no end to the conspiracy theories.The world had barely finished speculating about Kim Jong Un’s prolonged absence from the public eye when Pyongyang provided more fodder for speculation by dramatically closing its borders in response to the Ebola outbreak.
Surely this couldn’t actually be about Ebola breaking out half a world away, some North Korea watchers said, espousing a range of theories, from domestic political instability to a desire to further shield North Koreans from outside information.
In addition to enforcing a 21day quarantine for anyone who has been out of the country, Kim Jong Un’s regime has cancelled the Arirang mass gymnastics performance scheduled for April and banned foreign runners from the Pyongyang Marathon, which was also set for next month.
In Dandong, China’s commercial gateway to North Korea, business people say the measures have had a noticeable impact on cross-border trade.
All North Koreans who enter China are put into quarantine when they return, even though it’s just a bridge away. North Koreans can be overheard in restaurants here talking about the quarantine and saying they won’t go back until it’s lifted.
“The medical system in North Korea is so poor that one person becoming sick can shake up the whole country,” said one Chinese businessman in Dandong, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “North Korea is taking precautions because Chinese people travel around the world, and they don’t know where they have been.”
Some businessmen have found ways around the measures. “We send goods to a warehouse near the port in North Korea, then the North Korea partner comes to collect the goods and deliver them to places in North Korea,” said Li Yunlong, an agent for a chemical exporting company. “They go through the quarantine. We don’t have to deal with it.”
No such luck for those working in the tourist industry.
Dandong attracts 20 million visitors a year because of its proximity to North Korea: Chinese people of a certain age like to take boat tours on the river that separates the two countries and reminisce.
But day trips for Chinese tourists have been cancelled.
And this being about North Korea, there are some conspiracy theories, – and almost all of them centre on the political chill between Beijing and Pyongyang since Kim Jong Un took over North Korea three years ago.
“It is all about politics,” said the owner of a souvenir shop. “Why is North Korea taking quarantine measures? They are targeting China. They are doing this to block Chinese people just because relations between the two states have become bad.” – Washington Post-Bloomberg