Hello, Ask a North Korean readers! Welcome back to the feature where you, the NK News readers, ask your questions about real life in North Korea and have them answered by our very own defector writers.

Today’s question is about the coronavirus: has it really not spread to North Korea?

Despite official state media claiming that there have been no confirmed cases within the country, many outsiders remain skeptical, especially since North Korea borders China, where COVID-19 originated.

In-hua Kim, who still has some contact with those in her hometown, Hyesan, shares what she has heard and her own thoughts on the situation.

Got a question for In-hua? Email it to [email protected] with your name and city. We’ll be publishing the best ones.

People infected with COVID-19 are suffering and dying across the world, and others live in fear that they’ll be the next to catch it.

When the coronavirus first broke out, I was shocked when I saw YouTube videos of people dying and moaning in extreme pain in Wuhan, China.

“What if the coronavirus spread in North Korea?” I wondered as I watched the footage. This thought made the videos even scarier for me.

I began to worry that my relatives and the people of my hometown, Hyesan, might endure the same misfortune and pain that many in the South had already fallen victim to.

Lying in bed at night I was unable to sleep. Images of Hyesanites, who lack proper medical facilities and medicine, catching COVID-19 and suffering were haunting me.

I came across one video reporting that dozens of the 974 army unit, who are tasked with the personal defense of Kim Jong Un, were infected with the coronavirus.

Another video said Kim had ordered those who had been infected through contact with Chinese people be secretly shot.

I worried about my siblings whenever I watched such videos. I tried to make contact with people inside North Korea to make sure they were safe, but was left feeling totally helpless amid the several-month silence.

Then, one day in April, I received a call from inside the country.

“Uncle, are my siblings all right?” I asked right away. “Nobody’s caught COVID-19, right?”

“What are you talking about? There’s no coronavirus here,” he asserted. “Your siblings are fine. The border is closed because of coronavirus, and trade is not going well. There’s been an outcry from the people.”

Concerned that he might be lying, I pressed him a little more.

“Uncle, is there really no coronavirus in North Korea? Isn’t it true that if you walk the streets or catch a bus without a mask then you will be punished? Is there really not a single person who has been infected?”

This person, who I’ve been in close contact with since we lived in the same village in North Korea, started to get annoyed about my constant questions on the issue.

“You know that if this call goes on for too long it could be tapped,” he said. “There really isn’t any coronavirus here. Don’t worry. Your siblings are healthy and doing well. But maintaining our livelihoods has been difficult, so if you can help out then please do.”

He then insisted on ending the call before hanging up.

When this person assured me that there is no COVID-19 in North Korea, I could finally let go of several months of worry.

Once North Korea closes the border with China, it becomes like a rabbit enclosure: rabbits on the outside can’t get in, and those on the inside can’t get out

The world was wracked with fear back in the early 2000s when SARS broke out in China. But not a single North Korean was infected.

Later, everyone was anxiously trying to prevent the spread of bird flu after it had sprung up in China. Again, however, no one in North Korea was infected. Life went on as usual.

Recently, COVID-19 sprang up, in China, and has spread across the whole world. Innumerable people have had no choice but to struggle to prevent the spread and treat those infected.

Despite similar cases in the recent past, though, nobody will believe you if you say there are no coronavirus cases in North Korea, which is only separated from China by a river.

It too had forgotten that SARS and bird flu, which had swept across the globe, had failed to make it past the border into North Korea.

The phone call with my hometown cast my mind back to SARS and bird flu, during which the authorities effectively prevented the epidemics from spreading to North Korea by sealing off the Sino-DPRK border.

Once North Korea closes the border with China, it becomes like a rabbit enclosure: rabbits on the outside can’t get in, and those on the inside can’t get out.

It is indeed very fortunate for North Korea if there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19, as state media claims, as the country lacks proper medicine and adequate medical facilities. If it were to spread over from China, people would die en masse.

Even though my siblings and close relatives in North Korea, who I’ll never be able to meet again, continue to live harsh lives, I just hope that they stay healthy and avoid the fate of catching this or any other infectious disease.

Edited by James Fretwell