Russia says lockdown of N. Korea capital lifted
SEOUL, South Korea — Russia’s Embassy in North Korea says the country has eased stringent epidemic controls in the capital, Pyongyang, that were placed during the past five days to slow the spread of respiratory illnesses.
North Korea has not officially acknowledged a lockdown in Pyongyang or a reemergence of covid-19 after leader Kim Jong Un declared a widely disputed victory over the coronavirus in August, but the Russian Embassy’s Facebook posts have provided rare glimpses into the secretive country’s infectious-disease controls.
The embassy posted a notice Monday issued by North Korea’s Foreign Ministry informing foreign diplomats that the “intensified anti-epidemic period” imposed in Pyongyang since Wednesday was lifted as of Monday.
Last week, the embassy said that North Korean health authorities required diplomatic missions to keep their employees indoors and also measure their temperatures four times a day and report the results to a hospital in Pyongyang. It said the North Korean measures were in response to an increase in “flu and other respiratory diseases,” but it didn’t mention the spread of covid-19 or restrictions imposed on regular citizens.
Shortly before that post, NK News, a North Korea-focused news website, cited a North Korean government notice to report that health officials had imposed a fiveday lockdown in Pyongyang in an effort to stem the spread of respiratory illnesses.
North Korea’s state media didn’t mention any preventive measures specifically tied to covid-19 as it tightened restrictions in Pyongyang last week.
Getting a read of North Korea’s virus situation is difficult as the country has been tightly shut since early 2020, with officials imposing strict border controls, banning tourists and aid workers and jetting out diplomats while scrambling to shield their poor health care system.
North Korea’s admission of a covid-19 outbreak in May last year came after it spent 2½ years rejecting outside offers of vaccines and other help while steadfastly claiming that its socialist system was protecting its population from an “evil” virus that had killed millions elsewhere.