North Korea says contaminated balloons from South Korea brought Covid-19

In a preposterous explanation for the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic in North Korea, the local government said that the virus came from contaminated balloons sent by South Korea. He claims that these balloons infected children, who transmitted the disease to adults.

In an apparent attempt to shift the blame to its neighbour, North Korea implicitly said the country’s first Covid-19 cases were caused by contaminated balloons sent by South Korea. Remember that the country has denied the presence of the virus on its territory for more than two years. But as the epidemic spread and claimed increasing numbers of victims, Pyongyang finally admitted the first cases of Covid-19 in the country in May.

According to a report by North Korea’s state media, the country’s epidemic prevention center had recorded the first cases of Covid-19 in the city of Ipho-ri, near its southeastern border with Korea. from South. The center also claimed that some residents of Ipho-ri, who showed symptoms of the disease, traveled to Pyongyang. Going back to the balloons supposedly sent by South Korea, local media say an 18-year-old soldier and a 5-year-old child came into contact with ‘alien objects’ in April and were later tested positive for the Omicron variant.

In his Press release, Pyongyang does not explicitly refer to South Korea. The reference to balloons used near borders by humanitarian associations to send aid and anti-regime leaflets is however quite obvious. On the other hand, the government has not accepted a more plausible explanation: that the Covid-19 entered North Korea after resuming cross-border trade with China, reported The Guardian.