Coronavirus: unvaccinated North Korea reluctant to accept medical aid, Seoul says

Health officials in North Korea found 269,510 more people with feverish symptoms and reported another six deaths, state media said on Tuesday

Pyongyang is unlikely to accept help from Seoul as it would be viewed as undermining leader Kim Jong-un’s authority, an analyst says

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wears a face mask while inspecting a pharmacy in Pyongyang, North Korea on Sunday. Photo: EPA-EFE/KCNA

Published: 11:40am, 17 May 2022Updated: 6:07pm, 17 May 2022

South Korea’s new conservative government is reaching out to help North Korea with its recent Covid-19 outbreak but the North keeps stonewalling, Seoul said on Tuesday.

The latest resistance came after Pyongyang reported six more people died and an additional 269,510 had feverish symptoms, bringing the death toll to 58 and illnesses to some 1.48 million as of 6pm on Monday.

More than 819,090 had fully recovered and at least 663,910 were being treated, according to state media KCNA.

Workers disinfect a restaurant in Pyongyang in March amid worries about the coronavirus. Photo: Kyodo

The Unification Ministry attempted to contact the North with its offer of help through cross-border communication lines.

“But the North did not answer whether it would accept his message or not” for the second consecutive day, a spokesperson of the ministry said on Tuesday.

The North has stepped up efforts to immediately fix “deviations” in the supply of medicine across the country, mobilising soldiers, officials, teachers and students for this purpose as ordered by leader Kim Jong-un earlier this week, according to KCNA.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol told the National Assembly on Monday if the North is willing to accept, the South would spare no efforts to help with vaccines, medicine, equipment and health personnel.

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