Daily NK has acquired a copy of the North Korean State Emergency Anti-epidemic Command’s “Emergency Disease Control Guidelines,” which were recently handed down to authorities in each of the country’s provinces. The guidelines show that North Korea has actively prepared countermeasures to respond to COVID-19 and has made the issue its “number one national project” for this year.
The guidelines set out 15 disease control measures that provinces need to follow. One noteworthy part of the guidelines is the emphasis on the roles of the provincial Military Security Command (MSC) branches, along with municipal and county Ministry of State Security branches.
In fact, North Korean authorities have established a system to have coronavirus-related work reported to MSC branches. One example would be when somebody is found to have a fever during temperature checks.
In such cases, the municipal and county MSS branches are to receive an “accurate diagnosis” from a local hospital where the suspected COVID-19 patient resides before reporting this diagnosis to a “relevant department” or sanitation guidance officers at municipal and county MSS branches. The results are also to be reported to the provincial MSC’s Anti-Epidemic Department, which is under the Emergency Anti-epidemic Division.
These guidlines suggest that the MSS holds overall responsibility over this entire reporting process. Given that the MSS monitors the “ideological trends” of North Koreans, this development suggests that North Korean authorities have further strengthened their management and control over people in the country under the pretext of protecting them from COVID-19.
“The closure of the borders and total shutdown in movement has led many North Koreans to feel discontented and angry,” the source said. “The shift of the central government’s authority over emergency quarantine efforts to the MSS has created a shift to a kind of ‘politics of fear’ where people are treated as political criminals if they violate emergency anti-epidemic measures.”
The guidelines obtained by Daily NK also confirm that the State Emergency Anti-Epidemic Command, which has not been mentioned by North Korean media outlets such as KCTV or Rodong Sinmun, is leading the country’s disease control efforts.
North Korea elevated the Central Emergency Anti-epidemic Command to become the State Emergency Anti-epidemic Command in August of last year, but the country has so far refrained from announcing this change to the rest of the world.
“To try and uphold the image of North Korea as a normal nation, the term ‘Central Anti-epidemic Command’ is used externally,” the source explained. “Internally, however, the term ‘State Emergency Anti-epidemic Command’ is used and it is actually the MSS at the frontlines controlling the people.”
The guidelines also include specific instructions for strengthening “disinfections,” “quarantines,” and “medical monitoring” on the local level.
The document emphasizes that disinfections and quarantines should be made part of daily life and that hygiene-related propaganda activities should be intensified. In addition, the guidelines instruct local authorities to submit reports on these activities to Emergency Anti-epidemic Divisions on the provincial level.
The guidelines place particular emphasis on the thorough implementation of disease control measures in major construction projects and activities related to sports and performing arts.
This emphasis is likely related to preliminary efforts on the part of North Korean authorities to mobilize people for the 110th anniversary of Kim Il Sung’s birthday (Apr. 15) and for the large apartment construction project in Pyongyang’s Hwasong district.
The guidelines also contain instructions for local authorities to create “temporary quarantine rooms” for suspected COVID-19 patients.
“Temporary quarantine rooms should be in places where there are few people passing by, and measures should be taken to ensure there is [sufficient] bedding, along with proper heating and dietary conditions,” the document says.
Translated by Gabriela Bernal
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