Kim cracks whip as Covid hits; 1 million ill

PYONGYANG: North Korea’s Kim Jong Un criticised “irresponsible” officials over the country’s pandemic response and ordered the army to help distribute medicine, state media said yesterday, as Seoul offered Covid-19 aid.

More than 1 million people have been ill with what Pyongyang calls “fever”, despite Kim ordering nationwide lockdowns to slow the spread of disease through the unvaccinated population.

In a sign of how serious the situation may be, Kim “strongly criticised” healthcare officials for “a botched response to epidemic prevention” and ordered the army to work “on immediately stabilising the supply of medicines in Pyongyang”, where Omicron was detected last week in North Korea’s first reported Covid-19 cases. North Korea has one of the world’s worst healthcare systems, with poorly-equipped hospitals and no Covid drugs, experts say. Kim’s public criticism is a sign that the situation on the ground is grim, said Yang Moo-jin, professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.