Family of Five North Korean Coronavirus Victims Die after Officials Nail Door Shut
The people of North Korea have no access to Coronavirus medical treatment of any kind. They are simply being confined and left to die. LFNKR deplore this inhumane treatment of the North Korean people by their government.
The following is a translation of a shocking news story released by Chosun Ilbo on March 31st (20:47).
On March 31st, it was learned that five members of a family infected with the new Coronavirus died in Chongjin City, North Hamgyong Province in North Korea at the beginning of March. A source familiar with North Korea’s internal affairs said, “The family was quarantined inside their house because they showed symptoms of the new Coronavirus infection.” The article continued, “The entire family died inside their home because they could receive no treatment in their quarantined situation.” It was learned that the five people who died were an elderly couple who had retired from a steel mill, their daughter, her husband and a child.
It has been reported that North Korea quarantines people in their homes when they show symptoms of the suspected new Coronavirus infection, and nails shut the doors of the quarantined homes to prevent them from going outside. Reportedly, the Chongjin City family, who died of the Coronavirus, remained trapped inside their house and received no treatment. The source close to North Korea said that even if someone dies from the Coronavirus, no one is allowed to mention the word “Coronavirus.” North Korea is covering up the situation regarding the virus in order to maintain an image of a clean country completely free of the Coronavirus.
North Korean officials still claim that there has not been a single confirmed patient or death from the Coronavirus. But the actual situation seems to be quite different, and additional information continues to come to light. Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun (major newspaper) reported on March 29th that more than 100 people suspected of being infected with the Coronavirus have died in North Korean military units stationed near the China-North Korean border since the end of February. The paper reported that “The Coronavirus infection began near the China-North Korea border and has now spread throughout the country,” and that “in some cases, military training exercises have been cancelled.”
North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency reported on March 27th that there are now 2,280 people “subject to medical monitoring” across the country, including foreign business travelers, their contacts, and people with cold symptoms in the North and South Pyeongan Province, Yangang Province, and Rason. Earlier this month, on March 13th, Robert Abrams, commander of the U.S. military in South Korea, also said, “I am convinced that North Korea could not have avoided the Wuhan Coronavirus infection which began in neighboring China.”
A source familiar with conditions in North Korea said, “Cases of the Coronavirus infection are growing rapidly in Pyongyang, South and North Pyongan Province, Chongjin in North Hamgyong Province, and Rason, where many Chinese people come and go.” The source said, “The measures taken by the North Korean authorities are all about isolation and control of movement between regions. In the quarantine phase of the Coronavirus, it is necessary to have a health and quarantine certificate along with a pass in order to travel to other areas on regular or official business.” The source added, “In the case of sanitary quarantine certificates, it is difficult to obtain them, even with bribes. Not only North Korean residents, but also foreigners who have been lifted from quarantine have been banned from leaving the country, and their movement has been restricted, which is very frustrating.”
A source familiar with the situation said, “North Korea has a sense of crisis and is taking a strong response to the Coronavirus, which is airborne and could wipe out the country if it spreads. On March 31st, the labor newspaper, organ of the Korean Workers’ Party of North Korea, stressed the need for absolute obedience to the emergency quarantine system to meet the Coronavirus threat in an op-ed piece by Lee Gyeong-chul, deputy professor at the Kim Il-sung University. In North Korea, there are no adequate medical facilities such as diagnostic kits, and in rural areas, a proper Coronavirus test is inconceivable.
A source close to the North said, “When diagnostic kits supplied as aid by China and Russia were used on patients suspected of Coronavirus infection, mainly in Pyongyang, positive reactions appeared one after another. This is the reason why North Korea requested assistance from the international community in providing quarantine supplies for the Coronavirus.” Prior to this, on March 28th, quarantine-related supplies in response to the Coronavirus, supported by the international medical support group, Doctors Without Borders, arrived in North Korea via Dandong, China. This was reported by Voice of America (VOA), a U.S. government-run broadcaster, on March 31st. A person involved in the National Policy Research Institute said, “Although North Korean authorities insist that there are no patients or deaths from the new Coronavirus infection, it appears that the damage caused by the Coronavirus infection is, in fact, growing inside North Korea.”