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North Korea imported masks and corona vaccines from China | Abroad

The North Korean regime first reported a corona infection earlier this month. Since then, nearly 3 million cases of what the country calls “fever” have been reported, according to the state news agency KCNA.

North Korea has not indicated how many of the people with a fever have been infected with the coronavirus, presumably due to lack of capacity to test on a large scale. The government itself recently said in Pyongyang that the number of corona infections is under control and is “stable decreasing.”

There are international concerns about a lack of vaccines and medical supplies in the Stalinist-ruled country. So now it seems that the government led by dictator Kim Jong-un has itself tried to stock up on protective equipment.

In February, China exported more than $300 million worth of undisclosed vaccines to its neighboring country. Between January and April, North Korea bought more than 10 million face masks and China also shipped nearly 95,000 thermometers during that period, 33 times as many as shipped out of the country in all of 2021.

North Korea closed its borders to virtually all foreign trade for most of the pandemic. Only a limited number of goods from China were allowed to enter the country by train or ship. According to a diplomatic source, a North Korean state plane picked up medical supplies itself from China last week.

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