The death of a 47-year-old man who disappeared from a boat on Monday while controlling illegal fishing on the border between the waters of the two countries caused a great stir in the south. According to Seoul, a man in a life jacket got beyond the border, was shot and burned. The intervening soldiers allegedly wore gas masks and protective clothing.
Pyongyang said his troops fired ten shots at the official after he refused to identify and tried to flee. He noted that their goal was not to burn the body, but the “floating device” of the man. The soldiers allegedly acted as part of a national strategy to combat coronavirus.
Order to shoot potential carriers
Kim then had a letter sent to his counterpart from the other side of the island, in which he unusually regretted the incident. “President Kim Jong-un has asked for his regret that instead of providing help to our compatriots in the south fighting the pandemic, we have caused them and President Mun Zhin in great disappointment over this unprecedented disaster at sea,” he said. in a letter to the communist regime.
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The mention of the pandemic demonstrates the seriousness that Pyongyang attaches to it. The DPRK closed its borders because of it shortly after the worsening situation in Wuhan. In mid-September, fearing the spread of the disease, it set up a zone along the Chinese border where anyone who might be able to introduce coronavirus from a neighboring country was to be shot.
“North Korean smugglers are trying to cross the border, so the regime issued these instructions,” Radio Free Asia quoted Robert Abrams, commander of the US forces in South Korea, as saying.
The regime fears it will fall because of the pandemic
Since the spring, experts are convinced that the North Korean leadership is trying at all costs to prevent the spread of coronavirus in a country with a weak health system and chronic malnutrition of part of the population. Since then, there has also been speculation as to whether it is really possible for the country to remain spared, or whether these allegations are just propaganda from the regime. The only officially confirmed case of suspected infectious disease in July concerned a former refugee who allegedly returned home from South Korea after three years.
In any case, experts have no doubt that the health and humanitarian crisis would pose a major threat to the regime. “If it turns out that the health care system cannot take care of the people, it will lose confidence in its government. It would mean that she is not infallible, “Deutsche Welle neurosurgeon Choy Chung-hyon, who fled the isolated country eight years ago, said recently.
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Despite these extreme measures, there were reports in the media that Kim had a shipment of 15,000 FFP2-compliant respirators returned to China this month because he feared they had been made in South Korea. “Surprisingly, the respirators have returned. The reason for the North Korean company to refuse was the suspicion that they were not from China, “the portal of the mentioned radio quoted an unnamed businessman from the Chinese border town.
He noted that there were no labels on the protective equipment to identify their origin. However, the North Korean authorities received suspicions due to their different quality.
South Korean public opinion is against the north
In the letter, Kim expressed the hope that killing a South Korean citizen would not worsen relations. But the inhabitants of the south will probably not be so appeased. “Public opinion in South Korea is really starting to be very negative. It has been negative before, but what the South Koreans did is shocking, “commented Ko Djong-hjon, a DPRK expert from the Asian Institute for Political Studies in Seoul.
South Korean President Mun Che-in is in a difficult position, seeking to warm mutual relations, which cooled significantly in June. The communist regime then blew up a liaison office of Korean states located in the border town of Kesong in the DPRK. It was built in 2018 as the germ of the then anticipated closer cooperation.
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