In a move to forestall the possible transmission of the deadly Ebola virus that has killed thousands in parts of West Africa, on the 23rd of last month North Korea decided to quarantine foreign visitors in the country for 21 days. The Daily NK has learned that since it imposed the measure, Pyongyang has also demanded that the visitors pay their lodging expenses.

“Chinese merchants in Rasun and visiting foreign tourists have been put under a 21-day quarantine,” a source in North Hamkyung Province told the Daily NK on Friday. “They have been asked to pay 600 RMB a day for room and board,” adding that the merchants and tourists are being held at Bipa Hotel [nominally a five-star facility] on the coastal outskirts of Rasun.

“On top of being subjected to the mandatory quarantine, they have been asked to pay their expenses, and so the guests are not happy,” he said. “Some tourists only came with enough money for their trip and now don’t have enough to pay for the period they're being held. So hotel officials are getting ‘contracts’ from other Chinese merchants based in Rasun to lend them money.”

According to the source, the visitors are being monitored every day by medical staff conducting routine checks for signs of the disease. “It looks like a ploy to make more money off of them using Ebola as an excuse,” he asserted.

A different source in Yangkang Province reported that during a recent inminban [people’s unit] meeting on Ebola,  people were informed, “Ebola is a disease where your blood vessels explode and all patients die.” Residents at the meeting were instructed to take measures to protect themselves from contracting it and any other contagious disease.

“We were told not to come in contact with people who have been overseas,” he explained, “and that people who have been to Russia, China, and Angola recently all need to be tested for Ebola.”

In mid-October, North Korea placed restrictions on people visiting Pyongyang to prevent potential transmission of the Ebola virus, as previously reported by the Daily NK. The travel restrictions are still said to be in place, but people carrying health certificates issued by provincial quarantine offices are allowed to travel.

The Party-run Rodong Sinmun has been issuing continual reports emphasizing the importance of health and quarantine measures to prevent the potential spread of Ebola, denoting the high level of attention being given to the viral disease.