(Seoul) A first "suspected" case of coronavirus has been identified in North Korea, which has undergone "maximum emergency", the official KCNA agency announced on Sunday.
France Media Agency
This case is due to a person who "entered on 18 July after illegally crossing the demarcation line" who acts as a border with South Korea, according to KCNA.
This person suspected of carrying the virus is presented as "a fugitive who went to the south three years ago" and was found in the town of Kaesong, on the border with South Korea .
The person in question "was initially put under strict quarantine, and all the people [...] who have come into contact with this person and those who have been in this town in the last five days are doing so. 'under full investigation,' KCNA said.
Pyongyang had previously assured that there were no cases of coronavirus and that the country's borders would remain closed.
To deal with the "dangerous situation [...] which could lead to a deadly and destructive catastrophe", North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called an emergency meeting of the political bureau on Saturday to adopt a "Maximum emergency system and issue a high level alert" to contain the epidemic, the official agency said.
Despite strict quarantine measures, "it looks like the vicious virus has entered the country," Kim Jong-un said according to KCNA.
The North Korean leader said that the government had taken "the preventive measure of totally confining Kaesong town" on 24 on July, we added from the same source.