'North Korea's Silence on Quarantine Support Means Rejection?' Kwon Young-se: "I Definitely Don't See It That Way"

Minister of Unification Kwon Young-se attended the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee plenary session held at the National Assembly on the 17th and responded to questions from lawmakers. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] On the 19th, Kwon Young-se, Minister of Unification, responded to a question about whether North Korea's lack of response to the COVID-19 quarantine cooperation proposal meant a refusal by saying, "I do not necessarily see it that way."

Minister Kwon answered this during the comprehensive policy inquiry at the National Assembly's Special Committee on Budget and Accounts in response to a question from independent lawmaker Yang Jeong-suk.

He said, "On the 16th, we said we would deliver a notification offering cooperation on COVID-19 quarantine measures, but we have not yet received a response."

Regarding indirect support through international organizations, Minister Kwon stated, "I recently mentioned in the standing committee that I view this positively, but it seems North Korea has not yet opened its mind to these international organizations."

Minister Kwon also said at the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee plenary session the previous day that, despite repeated provocations by North Korea, "we will continue" humanitarian support for COVID-19.

Initially, North Korea held the position that COVID-19 vaccines were not very effective and unnecessary, but on the 17th, Rodong Sinmun reported that "vaccination is also effective in preventing COVID-19."

According to statistics from the National Emergency Anti-epidemic Command reported by the Korean Central News Agency on the same day, from 6 p.m. on the 17th to 6 p.m. on the 18th, approximately 262,270 new fever patients were reported nationwide.

From the end of last month until 6 p.m. the previous day, North Korea announced a total of about 1,978,230 fever patients nationwide, approaching 2 million.