The spread of COVID-19 in North Korea is not all bad news for leader Kim Jong Un. By locking down the entire country, he can assert the power of his regime as never before.
. By locking down the entire country, he can assert the power of his regime as never before. He has the authority to arrest anyone perceived to have broken the rules for any reason, whether in quest of food or the need to see a friend or to look for medicine.
“If all leading officials do not exert themselves and display their strenuous and fighting spirit,” Kim was quoted as saying, “they cannot take the strategic initiative in the ongoing anti-epidemic war.” They “should not allow any slightest imperfection and vulnerable points by maintaining high tension and vigilance in the acute anti-epidemic war.”
There is no way to verify these figures, but we may assume the real numbers are far higher than the 56 deaths and 1.5 million reported by the North Korean media to have suffered from “fever.” By passing on the blame, Kim avoids all responsibility for having failed to take any of the basic steps needed to halt the spread of the disease. He holds himself and his innermost circle above reproach while lower-ranking bureaucrats are guilty of betraying the country through their inability to prevent a disease that his regime had been claiming had not broken out anywhere within its borders.
What’s certain is that North Korea is in the midst of a serious emergency that provides a terrific opportunity for Kim to crack down more harshly than ever before on his own people. The emergency, however, confronts him with enormous risks. It is possible that he will be unable to stifle widespread dissatisfaction with his rule and may have to combat open opposition. He may wind up finding his grip weakened or compromised.
Kim even “censured the director of the Central Public Prosecutors Office for the idleness and negligence of his duty not feeling any responsibility and compunction and playing any role.” Now Kim faces the risk, much as he hates the idea, of having to accept foreign assistance in the form of vaccines and medical equipment needed to combat the disease. While saying not a word about vaccines, he may be forced to accept them on a mass scale. If that happens, foreign donors would insist on knowing who was getting the vaccines, where and how they were being administered.
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