By Yi Whan-woo
Fears of an Ebola outbreak became so strong in North Korea last year that regular procedures and protocols were changed, according to observers of the repressive regime.
For example, they said Pyongyang’s lack of public health services has made it extra cautious.
They said the Pyongyang officials were allegedly quarantined for 21 days after travelling outside North Korea. Three weeks is the maximum incubation period for the virus.
Officials had to undergo long, rigorous periods of quarantine irrespective of their ranks. They included Ri Yong-ho and Kim Young-nam.
Ri is North Korea’s vice foreign minister and its nuclear negotiator at the six-party talks.
These are the dormant roundtable discussions involving the two Koreas, the U.S, China, Japan and Russia to discuss denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Kim Young-nam is the president of the Presidium of the North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly. He is also the regime’s nominal head of state.
“Such seclusion of the high-ranking officials would not have been possible without North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s order,” said Yang Moo-jin, a professor of North Korean Studies.
Yoo Ho-yeol, a North Korean studies professor at Korea University, agreed.
“Coupled with Kim’s order, it’s convincing that North Korean health authorities have tried to prevent a possible Ebola outbreak there.”
“They know all too well that the regime, which lacks basic medical equipment and services, will be devastated, if the virus hits the country,” he said.
According to Paik Hak-soon, the director of the Center for North Korean Studies at the Sejong Institute, a global policy think tank, Ri was asked to stay at home after returning from Singapore in January. He met with U.S. officials to discuss North Korean issues there.
The Washington Post reported on Feb. 2 that the Singapore meeting resulted in a suggestion that the U.S. and North Korean officials would meet later in Beijing to discuss nuclear issues.
North Korea, however, changed its stance, saying that the U.S. officials would visit Pyongyang with Ri remaining in the North Korean capital.
Kim Young-nam was also quarantined after his visit to four east African countries ― Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan and Uganda ― in October. His visit was to bolster North Korea’s ties with the African nation. None of the countries suffered deaths during the Ebola outbreak.
Paik said, “It is unlikely that Kim Jong-un will quarantine his officials, if they travel with him to Moscow in May.”
The leaders from the countries around the world, including South Korea, China, Japan, the U.S, and European-member nations, are invited to attend the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. The ceremony is slated for May 9 in the Russian capital.
The Kremlin announced in January that Kim Jong-un confirmed to attend the event.