North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sacked several top officials in the country over a “Serious incident” linked to the fight against the pandemic due to Covid-19, the official KCNA agency announced on Wednesday, June 30. These officials have “Caused a serious incident which causes a huge crisis for the security of the nation and its people”Kim said at a politburo meeting as quoted by KCNA.
New members were appointed at the meeting of the powerful North Korean Workers’ Party politburo, KCNA reported, adding that government officials were “Transferred” and others “Appointed”.
The agency did not provide any details on the number of people sacked or the charges against them but, it said, Mr Kim accused them of being “The prey of selfishness and passivity”. “The incompetence and irresponsibility of senior officials is a major factor slowing down the performance of important tasks”, added the North Korean leader during the meeting, according to KCNA.
So far, the North Korean regime has always maintained that the Covid-19 epidemic has not arrived on its soil, which many experts doubt.
The country more isolated than ever
At the head of a country with a failing health system, Kim Jong-un decided to close North Korea’s borders in January 2020 in order to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus which appeared in his Chinese neighbor.
Under international sanctions for its nuclear program, North Korea found itself more isolated than ever because of this measure. Its trade with China, on which it depends heavily, has drastically reduced and aid workers have deserted the country.
Kim Jong-un recently admitted that North Korea faces a “Tense food situation”. He had called in April to “To lead a new “Forced walk” (…) In order to help the population in the face of difficulties ”. The ” Forced walk “ is the expression used in the North to refer to the famine of the 1990s which left hundreds of thousands of people dead, following the reduction in aid from Moscow after the Soviet collapse.