[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] Regarding North Korea's report that a suspected COVID-19 defected North Korean returned to the North, our military authorities stated, "We are closely cooperating with relevant agencies to verify by identifying some individuals."
On the 26th, a Joint Chiefs of Staff official said regarding the North Korean state media report, "Currently, our military is verifying the overall readiness, including surveillance equipment recordings, at the Joint Chiefs of Staff's combat readiness inspection office." The military and police are currently investigating the re-entry route of this man. Depending on the investigation results, criticism that the military's alert posture was breached seems unavoidable, and repercussions are expected.
According to government authorities and the Gimpo Police Station, this man entered South Korea from North Korea in June 2017, three years ago, and was under personal protection. However, during a sexual crime investigation, as he became a suspect, he disappeared.
North Korea's Korean Central News Agency and the Workers' Party organ Rodong Sinmun reported on the same day, "An emergency incident occurred on July 19, when a defector suspected of being infected with a malignant virus illegally crossed the military demarcation line and returned to Kaesong City after three years." The newspaper stated that North Korea's specialized quarantine agency conducted multiple relevant tests on the upper respiratory secretions and blood of this returnee, resulting in suspicious findings that could be diagnosed as a malignant virus infection.
They also said the suspected infected person was "thoroughly isolated," and "all individuals who had contact with him in Kaesong City over the past five days, as well as those who passed through Kaesong City, are being thoroughly investigated, controlled, tested, and quarantined under coordination with relevant departments."
Furthermore, North Korean authorities completely sealed off Kaesong City from the afternoon of the 24th, and on the 25th, held an emergency expanded meeting of the Political Bureau of the Workers' Party Central Committee chaired by State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong Un. They declared a maximum emergency alert and placed the national emergency quarantine system on the highest emergency status. This is the first time North Korea has officially acknowledged internal COVID-19 infiltration. North Korean media claimed that this suspected infected person defected and then returned to North Korea, and stated that the unit responsible for the defection incident would be severely punished.
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