The country has vehemently denied having had any cases of the virus, a claim questioned by outside experts.
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un placed the city of Kaesong near the border with South Korea under total lockdown after a person was found there with suspected COVID-19 symptoms, saying “the vicious virus” may have entered the country, state media reported Sunday.
KCNA said respiratory secretion and blood tests showed the person “is suspected to have been infected” with the coronavirus. It said the person was placed under quarantine. People who had been in contact with the suspected patient and those who had been to Kaesong in the last five days were also quarantined.
Kaesong, a city with an estimated population of 200,000, is located just north of the heavily fortified land border with South Korea. It once hosted the Koreas’ jointly run industrial complex, which has been shut since 2016 amid nuclear tensions. Last month, North Korea blew up an inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong to protest a campaign by South Korean activists who have been sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border.
Analyst Cheong Seong-Chang at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea said a thorough lockdown in Kaesong would make it difficult for a potential virus outbreak to spread beyond the city. But he said virus fears would engulf North Korean leaders. It said that Kim and other leaders were briefed on the results of an intensive investigation of a military unit responsible for the border crossing and discussed administering “a severe punishment.”
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