Ambassador to Russia for one year of North Korean border blockade “Is it possible for the corona to be buried?

Russian Ambassador Alexandre Macegora said on the 8th (local time) that diplomats staying in Pyongyang are experiencing a shortage of daily necessities more than a year after North Korea closed the border to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19).

Russians, who were staying in Pyongyang, are returning home in July of last year after the North Korean authorities took strong restrictions, such as a border blockade, to block the spread of the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19). Russian ambassador to North Korea, Alexandra Machegora (left), is sending them. [연합뉴스]

In an interview with Interfax News, Ambassador Macegora said, “With the North Korean border blockade conducted since January last year to prevent the influx of Corona 19 from China and Russia, there are no foreigners who have entered North Korea. Many embassies left North Korea and stopped their activities,” he said.

Ambassador Macegora said, “If the North Korean authorities do not have enough medical facilities to deal with Corona 19 outbreaks in North Korea, they openly admit that what they can do is thorough blocking the influx of Corona 19. Imports of raw materials have been halted, causing many businesses to close, people lost their jobs, and children are virtually unable to go to school throughout the year.” He added, “As the border blockade lengthened, it became difficult to buy even basic necessities such as flour and sugar in Pyongyang. Even if you barely get clothes and shoes, the price is 3 to 4 times higher than before the border blockade.”

Government authorities are aware that North Korea is controlling trade as well as human exchanges in response to concerns that the corona 19 virus may enter goods imported from China and Russia bordering the border. North Korea is said to have set up a 1~2km corona 19 buffer zone on the China-Russia border last summer, and ordered to kill animals as well as people approaching the area. In addition, even in the midst of economic hardship, the intelligence authorities are aware that they have neglected food aided by China and have stopped fishing and salt production because they are concerned about contamination of seawater.

In addition, as production becomes difficult due to the lack of internal resources, the Russian embassy employees exchange clothes and shoes with each other to wear them on their children, and are experiencing a shortage of medicines, Ambassador Macegora explained.

In the midst of this, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un convened a plenary meeting of the Labor Party on the 8th and “pointed out the passive and voshinist tendencies of the national economic guidance organs,” the Chosun Central News Agency reported on the 9th. The news agency explained the background of the meeting, “to deliberate and decide on the business plan for 2021.” However, detailed plans for each field of the five-year national economic development plan proposed at the 8th party conference (5-12 days) last month were prepared. As problems emerged in the process, he broke the custom of holding plenary meetings once or twice a year and began to prescribe extreme drugs.

The Labor Newspaper reported on the 9th that the first meeting of the second plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the North Korean Labor Party was held on the 8th. [뉴스1]

In particular, this plenary meeting attracted attention by attending not only the central party executives, but also the military party chief secretary, important factories, enterprise parties, and executives responsible for administration. Professor Lim-chul of Kyungnam University analyzed that “It is unusual for the executives of major factories to attend the plenary meeting,” and said, “It reflects the will to achieve the goal of the five-year national economic development plan adopted at the 8th Party Congress.” It is said that it is to deliver Chairman Kim’s voice directly to the field with a sense of urgency to get out of the economic crisis.

Reporter Jeong Yong-soo [email protected]