North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un has sacked several of the country’s top officials over a “serious incident” related to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the official KCNA news agency said Wednesday.
These officials “caused a serious incident that caused a huge crisis for the security of the nation and its people,” Mr Kim said at a politburo meeting, as quoted by KCNA, which did not provide details.
Until now, the North Korean regime has always maintained that the COVID-19 outbreak did not arrive on its soil, which many experts doubt.
As the head of a country with a failing health system, Kim Jong Un decided to close North Korea’s borders in January 2020 in order to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus that has appeared in its Chinese neighbour.
Under international sanctions for its nuclear programme, North Korea has become more isolated than ever as a result. Its trade with China, on which it depends heavily, has been drastically reduced and aid workers have deserted the country.
Kim Jong Un recently acknowledged that North Korea was facing a “tense food situation”
AFP
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