NK reports 15 new deaths amid COVID outbreak
SEOUL North Korea yesterday reported 15 additional deaths from an ongoing "epidemic" and 296,180 more people with fever symptoms nationwide, three days after it announced a COVID-19 outbreak.
The new cases, which occurred between last Friday evening and 6pm on Saturday, raised the total number of deaths to 42 and that of those who have shown fever symptoms since late April to 820,620, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
In a related movement, South Korea plans to offer working-level talks with North Korea, a senior official said yesterday, in an apparent move to help the
North contain the spread of COVID-19.
Last week, North Korea declared the implementation of the "maximum emergency" virus control system as it acknowledged an outbreak of COVID-19 for the first time since the pandemic began. North Korea had claimed for over two years that it was coronavirus-free.
"The government is actively reviewing to officially propose to North Korea holding a working-level meeting at the beginning of the week," a senior South Korean official told Yonhap News Agency on condition of anonymity, citing policy.
The official said South Korea plans to deliver its proposal to North Korea after holding consultations with relevant ministries.
The move could pick up speed after new Unification Minister Kwon Youngse takes office around today.
The offer, if accepted by North Korea, would mark the first talks between the two Koreas after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol took office last week, promising an audacious plan to vastly strengthen North Korea's economy in return for North Korea's steps toward denuclearisation.
Last Friday, Yoon offered to send COVID-19 vaccines and other medical supplies to North Korea.
Still, it remains unclear if North Korea will come forward for talks with South Korea amid tensions on the Korean Peninsula over the North's missile launches in recent months.