Nine months have passed since North Korea shut down its borders in Jan. 2020 to prevent the spread of COVID-19 — a swift move that came just when the world was starting to talk about the virus, and far before it ravaged millions of lives.

Now, the country has introduced a new “Emergency Quarantine Law” that hashes out different levels of disease-related red alerts and COVID-19 countermeasures, including detailed guidelines for handling patients who test “positive” for general infectious diseases.

From Saturday to Tuesday, North Korea’s state-run Minju Choson newspaper ran a series of articles introducing the new law, sharing the most important segments from chapters one to four.

According to chapter four of the law, the DPRK’s Central Emergency Anti-epidemic Headquarter is responsible for anyone who tests “positive” for infectious diseases, which will technically include COVID-19.

“If the initial test result is concluded as positive, the Central Emergency Anti-epidemic Headquarter should, most urgently, immediately organize secondary tests for all contacts — and the patient — using real-time checkup equipment,” the Minju Choson article states.

If a patient tests positive for an infectious disease, he or she will receive medical treatment in isolation, with the quarantine command organizing an “urgent emergency quarantine” and “lockdown” in relevant areas.

Everyone involved in quarantining the contracted patient should wear personal protective equipment (PPE), the article stated.

It remains unclear when exactly this law was adopted in North Korea. However, it’s possible that the law is following up on Kim Jong Un’s complaints at a key Political Bureau meeting last February, where he instructed officials to urgently “supplement and complement the law on the state emergency anti-epidemic” and to “readjust state crisis control regulations” to better prepare the country against COVID-19.

“Kim Jong Un asked already in February to amend quarantine legislation — but [the fact] that this law was introduced to the public so late suggests it was adopted rather recently,” said Martin Weiser, a researcher specializing in North Korean politics and state media.

“It might have been adopted in response to the Kaesong lockdown in July,” Weiser added, referring to when DPRK state media reported on a “suspected” COVID-19 case from a redefector who traveled from South Korea. The World Health Organization later claimed that the redefector’s test was “inconclusive.”

“As the country’s first domestic lockdown, [the incident] likely led to chaos, as there were no clear rules to follow,” he said.

THREE LEVELS OF EMERGENCY QUARANTINE

According to the Minju Choson, emergency quarantine comes in first-class, special-class and super-class warnings.

First-class warnings are issued when there is a “possibility” that a “malignant infectious disease” may have entered North Korean territory. The alert will trigger some sort of limitation to the border-crossing of people and items.

A stronger “special-class” alert is issued when there is a “risk” of such disease entering the country or that disease started inside North Korea. In this case, either the border will be closed or the relevant area will go under a lockdown.

The toughest “super-class” alert is issued when there is a danger that a disease “broke out in the neighboring countries or regions and “could cause detrimental and destructive catastrophe” to North Korea. This alert will trigger a total lockdown of all borders — land, air and sea, as well as a full-stop to all gatherings and school openings.

“It is a bit surprising that school closures and prohibition of public meetings were only named for the highest of the three quarantine levels,” Weiser said. “Other countries took this measure early on.”

Chapter two and three of the new law detailed when public health and economic units in North Korea are required to produce quarantine-related items, such as medical equipment and disinfectants.

“The law demands that the state-planning institutions and any related entity provide the medical sector with any resources necessary to fulfill its production targets,” Weiser said, adding that this is likely enforced by the Central Emergency Anti-epidemic Headquarter.

This institution, according to the Minju Choson, has the final say on any releases from quarantine, as well.

“In the North Korean context, this centralization is not surprising,” Weiser said. “But during an outbreak with eventually thousands under quarantine, this might prove impracticable.”

Edited by Kelly Kasulis