Coronavirus: US ready to allow North Korea sanctions exemption amid outbreak fears
- International organisations have called for ‘life-saving intervention’ to allow aid to flow into country that borders China, where virus was first identified
- Personal protective gear and testing kits urgently needed to prepare for possible outbreak, Red Cross says
The United States is “deeply concerned” about the possible impact of a coronavirus outbreak in North Korea and is prepared to facilitate efforts by US and international organisations to contain the spread of the virus there, the State Department said on Thursday.
“We strongly support and encourage the work of US and international aid and health organisations to counter and contain the spread of coronavirus in the DPRK,” spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said after the Red Cross called for an urgent exemption to sanctions on Pyongyang to help prevent a coronavirus outbreak.
“The United States is ready and prepared to expeditiously facilitate the approval of assistance from these organisations,” Ortagus added in a statement.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said earlier that a sanctions exemption allowing for a bank transfer to the IFRC country office in North Korea was “essential as a life-saving intervention”.
It said there was an urgent need for personal protective gear and testing kits to prepare for a possible outbreak in North Korea, which borders China where the virus was first identified.
International sanctions bar a wide range of business, trade, and other interactions with North Korea. The sanctions were imposed over the country’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, which were developed in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.