North Koreaâs Kim Jong Un declared a âshining victoryâ over Covid-19 as his sister revealed he had fallen ill during the outbreak, which she blamed on Seoul, state media said Thursday.
Addressing a meeting of health workers and scientists, Kim announced a âvictory⊠in the war against the malignant pandemic diseaseâ, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
The isolated country, which has maintained a rigid coronavirus blockade since the start of the pandemic, confirmed an Omicron outbreak in the capital Pyongyang in May and activated a âmaximum emergency epidemic prevention systemâ.
North Korea refers to âfever patientsâ rather than âCovid patientsâ in case reports, apparently due to a lack of testing capacity.
It has recorded nearly 4.8 million âfeverâ infections and just 74 deaths for an official fatality rate of 0.002 percent, according to state media. It has reported no new cases since July 29.
This handling of the pandemic âis a miracle unprecedented in the worldâs public health history,â Kim said to thunderous applause, according to KCNA.
âThe victory gained by our people is a historic event.â
â Kimâs âhigh feverâ â
Kimâs powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, said the top leader himself had been ill during the outbreak, according to another KCNA report.
Kim âwas suffering from high fever during the days of this quarantine war, but he could not lie down for a moment as he was thinking about the people he was responsible forâ, his sister said.
This is the first time North Korea has indicated its leader â whose health is the subject of extraordinarily close scrutiny by analysts â had been infected by the coronavirus.
Yo Jong also claimed the countryâs Covid-19 outbreak was caused by South Korea, warning of âretaliationâ.
North Korea has previously said that âalien thingsâ near the border with the South caused the isolated countryâs Covid outbreak, a claim Seoul has rejected.
Despite a ban that took effect in 2021, South Korean activists have for years flown balloons containing propaganda leaflets and US dollars over the border, which Pyongyang has long protested against.
Yo Jong said such actions were a âcrime against humanityâ and that Pyongyang was considering âa strong retaliatory responseâ.
Seoulâs Unification Ministry on Thursday said North Korea was repeating a âgroundless claimâ and expressed regret that Pyongyang was making ârude and threatening remarksâ.
â Nuclear test? â
Analysts said that the victory declaration indicated North Korea was looking to move on to other priorities âsuch as boosting the economy or conducting a nuclear test,â said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.
âKim Yo Jongâs bellicose rhetoric is concerning because not only will she try to blame any Covid resurgence on South Korea, she is also looking to justify North Koreaâs next military provocation,â he added.
Experts, including the World Health Organization, have long questioned Pyongyangâs Covid statistics and claims to have brought the outbreak under control.
The country has one of the worldâs worst healthcare systems, with poorly equipped hospitals, few intensive care units and no Covid-19 treatment drugs or vaccines, experts say.
South Korea â with its advanced healthcare and highly vaccinated population â has a coronavirus fatality rate of 0.12 per cent, according to official data â significantly higher than that reported in the North.