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Coronavirus pandemic
AsiaEast Asia

Coronavirus: South Korea plans to provide vaccines to North Korea as neighbour’s Covid-19 situation ‘appears serious’

  • South Korea’s decision to provide Covid-19 vaccines and medical supplies comes a day after the neighbouring country confirmed its first outbreak of coronavirus
  • At least one person confirmed to have Covid has died in North Korea and hundreds of thousands have shown fever symptoms, state media said on Friday

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Employees spray disinfectant and wipe surfaces as part of preventive measures against Covid-19 at the Pyongyang Children’s Department Store in March. Photo: TNS
ReutersandPark Chan-kyong

South Korea plans to provide Covid-19 vaccines and other medical supplies to the North, President Yoon Suk-yeol’s office said on Friday, a day after the neighbouring country confirmed its first outbreak of coronavirus.

“We will discuss detailed plans for assistance with North Korea,” Yoon’s spokesperson said.

Yoon told reporters later on Friday he plans to propose holding working-level talks with North Korea via the country’s unification ministry which handles inter-Korean affairs, South Korea’s News1 said.

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Yonhap news agency reported the South Korean president’s office said that North Korea’s Covid-19 situation appears serious.

Seoul’s statement comes as at least one person confirmed to have Covid-19 has died in North Korea and hundreds of thousands have shown fever symptoms, state media said on Friday, offering hints at the potentially dire scale of country’s first confirmed outbreak since the pandemic began.
Workers spray disinfectant inside the Pyongyang Department Store No. 1 before opening for business. North Korea on Thursday confirmed its first-ever case of Covid-19, with state media declaring it a “severe national emergency incident” after more than two years of purportedly keeping the pandemic at bay. Photo: AFP
Workers spray disinfectant inside the Pyongyang Department Store No. 1 before opening for business. North Korea on Thursday confirmed its first-ever case of Covid-19, with state media declaring it a “severe national emergency incident” after more than two years of purportedly keeping the pandemic at bay. Photo: AFP

Some 187,800 people are currently being treated in isolation after a fever of unidentified origin has “explosively spread nationwide” since late April, the official KCNA news agency reported.

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