[국제][단독] “North Korea lifts lockdown”… Is it correct to judge that the infection situation will improve?

[앵커]

It is reported that North Korea has lifted the lockdown order it has taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

I have decided that the infection situation has calmed down in my own way, but there is still a question as to whether the infection situation in North Korea is improving.

Correspondent Kang Seong-woong reports from Beijing.

[기자]

A North Korean source in Beijing said the North had lifted the lockdown from 12 noon on Sunday.

It has been 17 days since it was announced that all residents were banned from going out and moving as the number of corona19 infections increased rapidly.

North Korea also banned foreign embassies such as China and Russia in Pyongyang at the time from leaving.

Another source in Beijing said that North Korea had lifted the lockdown after it determined that the coronavirus had stabilized.

In addition, the measure was evaluated as showing that North Korea responds differently from China’s so-called ‘zero corona’.

The decision appears to have been made at a Politburo meeting presided over by Chairman Kim Jong-un, held hours before the lockdown was lifted.

The Korean Central News Agency reported that at the meeting, the issue of adjusting the quarantine regulations was discussed as the epidemic situation was improving.

North Korea recently announced that the number of daily fever patients fell below 100,000 for two days in a row.

However, according to the North Korean announcement, about 186,000 people with fever are still receiving treatment.

Therefore, some are pointing out that North Korea, which lacks medicines and medical facilities, may have prematurely eased the restrictions on movement.

Moreover, the reliability of the statistics on infection and death is questionable, so the internal situation in North Korea is still unclear.

Attention is focused on whether the border, which has been closed for more than two years for quarantine reasons, will also be opened by allowing North Koreans to go out and move.

This is Sungwoong Kang from YTN in Beijing.

YTN Kang Sung-woong (swkang@ytn.co.kr)

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