A lecture for employees of the Pyongyang International Airport Management Operations Bureau held on Saturday claimed that Seoul has been “completely locked down” due to the spread of COVID-19, a Daily NK source reported yesterday.
The lecturer, a member of the local party committee, also told the audience that COVID-19 has “again become widespread” in South Korea.
According to the lecturer, the “complete lock down of a city like Seoul has revealed the serious medical situation of South Chosun [South Korea] to the international community.” The lecturer appears to have been criticizing South Korea’s “social distancing” campaigns while contrasting them with North Korea’s efforts to fight the disease. North Korea has completely shut down its borders – air, sea and land – since late January.
This is not the first time that North Korea has spread false information about South Korea to its people. The country has long held lectures claiming that South Korea is a “capitalist dog-eat-dog society” where “innumerable people are dying” because they cannot enter hospitals, according to the source.
The lecturer also reportedly claimed that South Koreans are unable to lead “normal lives” because of both the lock down and the immense levels of death and destruction due to recent typhoons.
“The entire Korean Peninsula has suffered human and material damage from floods and typhoons,” the lecturer said, according to the source. “The Party has been superior in preventing [typhoon and flood damage] and has implemented a wise anti-epidemic policy, among other measures.”
The Pyongyang International Airport Management Operations Bureau manages the country’s domestic, international and cargo flights. All flights have been temporarily suspended, however, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
