North Korea declares state of emergency after first suspected case of corona virus detected

SANAA, July 26 (YPA) – Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader, has said that the new corona virus (COVID-19) could infiltrate the country’s territory and impose a state of emergency in a city near its border with South Korea after the first person suspected of contracting the disease was found.

On Saturday evening, Kim Jong Un held an urgent meeting of the political bureau of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) after health authorities in the border town of Kison, near South Korea, spotted a person suspected of contracting the Coronavirus.

Kim Jong Un declared a state of emergency and directed the closure measures in the city, the country’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

“This is a critical situation under which we can say that the evil virus has entered the country,” the North Korean leader said.

The suspect, who was contracting the virus, returned to North Korea from its southern neighbor on July 19 illegally after fleeing his country three years ago, the agency said.

In Kaesong, he underwent an examination that gave “unclear” results and was placed in an isolation.

If confirmed, it would be the first official case of covid-19 infection in North Korea, which for months insisted on being free of the disease.

E.M