A teacher takes the body temperature of a schoolgirl to help curb the spread of the coronavirus before entering Kim Song Ju Primary School in Central District in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this Oct. 13, 2021 file photo. Before officially acknowledging domestic COVID-19 cases, Thursday, North Korea spent 2 1/2 years rejecting outside offers of vaccines and steadfastly claiming that its superior socialist system was protecting its 26 million people from "a malicious virus" that had killed millions around the world. AP-Yonhap

By Kwon Mee-yoo

As North Korea's COVID-19 situation has gone out of control after confirming its first case of the infectious disease last week, the reclusive state is leaning on its ally, China, to overcome the crisis. South Korea is expected to propose working-level talks with Pyongyang this week.

According to North Korea's emergency epidemic prevention headquarters, some 296,000 fever cases had been reported Saturday, with 15 deaths. The North's COVID-19 cases skyrocketed from 18,000 reported Thursday and 174,000 on Friday.

Despite Pyongyang announcing the number of daily COVID-19 infections, experts question the accuracy of its statistics as the totalitarian country might have cut down the numbers to appease the public sentiment.

Moreover, Pyongyang counts "fever" cases instead of COVID-19 cases, which suggests that the country does not have the testing capacity to handle the situation.

Kim Jong-un stated Saturday that North Korea is faced with "great turmoil" due to the spread of the virus and pledged for a "maximum emergency" antivirus system, by learning from "successful" COVID-19 control measures of other countries, including China.

China responded that it is "ready to work with the DPRK, support each other and strengthen cooperation against the pandemic," referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian was quoted as saying, "China and the DPRK are friendly neighbors sharing borders. We pay great attention to the pandemic in the DPRK. We believe that under the leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea and the government of the DPRK, the people of the country can surely defeat the pandemic. China is ready to strengthen anti-pandemic cooperation with the DPRK, and provide our support and assistance in light of the DPRK's need."

An employee of the Kyonghung Foodstuff General Store disinfects the showroom countertops in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this Nov. 10, 2021 file photo. AP-Yonhap

However, Cheong Seong-chang, director of the Center for North Korean Studies at the Sejong Institute in South Korea, said it will take a long time for North Korea to overcome the pandemic if it relies only on China.

Yoon offers unlimited COVID-19 aid to North Korea 2022-05-16 11:17  |  North Korea
"There were discussions on COVID-19 vaccines between North Korean and China last year, but it is known that the negotiations fell through as North Korea wanted 50 million doses of vaccine, while China said it would provide 2 million to 5 million doses first and send additional vaccines later," Cheong said.

"It would be difficult for China alone to provide 2 to 3 shots of vaccines for all North Koreans and there are some doubts over the efficacy of Chinese vaccines in and outside the country. So if North Korea accepts other vaccines as well, it could overcome the pandemic more easily and rapidly."


Lee Jae-gap, an infectious disease doctor at Hallym University Hospital, quoted forecasts on North Korea's COVID-19 situation, predicting over 1 million cases and up to 100,000 deaths.

During a radio show Friday, Lee said North Korea's pandemic situation might be worse than expected as the country does not have a healthcare system for the infectious disease and the population is not vaccinated at all.

Lee said South Korea would provide humanitarian support for fighting COVID-19 in North Korea, including oxygen, therapeutics and protective gear for medical staff.

"If medical teams get infected, the whole healthcare system might break down. So it is important to provide highly protective face masks to medical staff," Lee said.

South Korea's new Foreign Minister Park Jin discussed humanitarian aid to North Korea with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a video talk Friday. The U.S. said it would support Pfizer vaccines to North Korea through the global vaccine program COVAX.

South Korea plans to officially offer North Korea assistance in fighting the coronavirus early this week. According to government officials, the Ministry of Unification will send a message suggesting a meeting on support for COVID-19 measures through the inter-Korean communication line.

Hong Min of the Korea Institute for National Unification expected that it is not likely for Pyongyang to accept humanitarian aid from Seoul and Washington as it has been taking a strong stance against the allied countries' opposition to the North's nuclear program.

"Still, Seoul has to lead the situation whether Pyongyang asks for support or not by communicating with the U.N. and WHO," Hong said.

This photo, released by Korean Central Television, Sunday, shows empty streets in North Korea amid the communist state's lockdown measures to contain the spread of COVID-19. Yonhap

International organizations are also ready to lend a helping hand to North Korea, but they have yet to receive any official requests from Pyongyang.

"We're monitoring with concern the reports of COVID-19 outbreak in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. We've yet to receive formal communications on the outbreak, but we are staying in contact with the representatives of the DPRK on this," Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the U.N. secretary-general, said during a daily briefing, Friday.

"The U.N. remains engaged and we stand ready along with our humanitarian partners to assist the people in need in the DPRK on COVID-19 and other issues, as people's vulnerability has likely increased since the pandemic outbreak and the border closures in 2020."