Executions and confined capital. How North Korea controls covid-19

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered the execution of at least two people, banned sea fishing and confined the city of Pyongyang as part of measures against the covid-19 and the economic effects of the pandemic.

Information on North Korea is being disseminated by South Korean intelligence services, adding that leader Kim Jong-un also ordered Pyongyang diplomats not to harass the elected president of the United States because they expect a new kind of rapprochement. with the Joe Biden administration in the future.

The new information was communicated to South Korean lawmakers in Seoul who received the latest report from the National Information Services of South Korea.

According to South Korean lawmaker Ha Tae-keung, who cites intelligence services, Kim Jong-un currently demonstrates “excessive hatred” and apply “irrational measures” facing the SARS CoV-2 pandemic and the impacts on the country’s economy.

According to the report cited by Ha Tae-keung, the leader of North Korea had a senior official in charge of the foreign exchange department executed in October after being held up because of falling exchange rates.

The same document indicates that another senior official in the Pyongyang regime was executed in August for violating measures to retain imported goods.

The two executed people were not identified in the report.

North Korea has also banned fishing and salt production to “prevent seawater from becoming contaminated by the new coronavirus,” South Korea’s intelligence services say.

North Korea has also confined the city of Pyongyang, the capital, and the northern province of Jagang, as measures against the pandemic.

Other containment measures were applied where the authorities found imported goods and foreign currency.

Other information indicates that Pyongyang performed acts of hacking against at least one South Korean pharmacist who is developing a vaccine against the new coronavirus.

Part of the information is still being confirmed by the Seoul intelligence services.

North Korea maintains that not a single case of covid-19 infection has been detected across the country, information that is contested by international experts.

The effects of the global epidemic in North Korea can be catastrophic because the country’s health system is extremely deficient and does not have a supply of medical and health supplies.

The pandemic forced North Korea to close its borders with the People’s Republic of China, the largest commercial and political partner.

The closure of borders since January has seriously affected the country’s economy marked by the sanctions imposed by the United States.

The trade balance with the People’s Republic of China totaled $ 530 million over the past 10 months, a figure that corresponds to just 25% of the total recorded in 2019.

According to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, North Korea has ordered embassies abroad not to provoke the United States, threatening the ambassadors.

North Korean officials remain silent about the election of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States.

Kim Jong-un held three summits with Donald Trump between 2018 and 2019 on the North Korean nuclear arsenal, easing the tone of political statements between the two parties.

Even so, according to the report, friendly relations with Trump are being seen as worthless within the framework of the future Biden administration.

Experts have highlighted the possibility that North Korea will soon begin a period of ballistic testing with new missiles to get Joe Biden’s attention.

South Korea’s intelligence services also hope that North Korea will soon hold a military parade within the framework of the one-party congress next January in a show of strength at the same time as Biden’s inauguration as president. from United States.

It is likely that the Workers’ Party Congress will be used to publicize new policies towards the United States.

Dictator Kim Jong-un said the congress, which is taking place for the first time in the past four years, will approve the objectives for the next five years.

In an unprecedented statement, the North Korean Workers’ Party said in August that the state’s economic objectives were seriously delayed.

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