NK ups anti-virus campaign; leader Kim sends letter to Xi

North Korea appears to be making an all-out effort to prevent an influx of the new coronavirus from China and has expressed its condolences to the country, which is the isolated North’s No. 1 ally, trade partner and immediate neighbor.

Multiple Chinese newspapers reported Sunday that President Xi Jinping received a letter of condolence from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un about the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus that has killed over 300 people in China.

On Saturday, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said Kim had “conveyed his sincere feelings of wanting to share the suffering and trial of the fraternal Chinese people and to render help even a bit” in a letter to Xi. North Korea also sent financial aid to the Chinese Communist Party, the KCNA reported without elaborating. It is very rare for North Korea, one of the world’s poorest countries, to provide aid to the world’s second-largest economy.

Pyongyang is ratcheting up its efforts to prevent the spread of the deadly virus from China. The communist North has not officially reported any victims, but given its proximity to China it has been extremely vigilant against the virus.

North Korea has shut down all its air and railway routes across its borders with China, according to the British government.

Pyongyang has announced that “all air and train routes between North Korea and China are temporarily suspended as of 31 January 2020” in response to the outbreak of the new virus across the globe, the British Foreign Ministry said earlier on its website.

North Korea has also decided to keep all foreigners arriving in the country via China isolated for up to one month to prevent the illness from spreading onto its soil, according to the Russian Embassy.

The Rodong Sinmun carried multiple articles detailing preventive work being done in Pyongyang and other cities against the coronavirus, which was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late December. It has since claimed over 300 lives in China and infected many others in the country and around the world.

One Rodong article stated that North Korea’s state disease control center and its national quality management body had conducted checks on North Korean residents returning from overseas trips, with particular attention being paid to areas bordering China.

A separate feature showed preventive measures being taken at Pyongyang International Airport, the only international airport in the North Korean capital.

“In order to completely keep the new coronavirus from spreading, (airport authorities) have taken an aggressive stance and have been undertaking checkups and quarantine efforts inside airplanes,” the report stated.

By Korea Herald staff and news reports (khnews@heraldcorp.com)