Following the lock down of Kaesong Special City recently, North Korea has moved to enact further restrictions on movements across the entire country in what appears to be an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“Orders saying that movement is now restricted until the end of August were [recently] handed down to businesses and factories,” a South Pyongan Province source told Daily NK yesterday. “The Ministry of Social Security’s Department No. 2 has drastically reduced the number of business travel-related documents it issues.”
The source told Daily NK that “powerful officials” in the central government only move around after “thorough disinfection and medical checks” have taken place.
“Movement within provinces and counties is permitted to some extent, but guard posts thoroughly restrict movement [across provinces],” he added.
Some procurement officials at factories along with mid-level officials are having to wait “several days” before getting permission to return home, the source said, noting that “They take buses or trucks if they really need to get somewhere, but the vehicles are only allowed to depart after undergoing a thorough disinfection process.”
The source said that restrictions on movement have been implemented across the entire country. People are reportedly being restricted from travelling between Yanggang Province and North Hamgyong Province, both of which are far from Kaesong Special City and North and South Hwanghae provinces.
The intensifying of restrictions on travel come after North Korea switched to a “maximum emergency system” and implemented “lock down” measures on its borders and some of its ports to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The new measures have even disrupted planned events, according to the source.
“Some universities in South Pyongan Province had planned to take field trips to Mt. Baekdu during the [school] vacation period, but have now been ordered to delay these plans,” the source said. “I’ve heard that storm trooper units mobilized to take part in the Samjiyon and Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourism Zone construction projects have imposed restrictions [on bringing in new workers to replace the existing ones].”
According to the source, various government agencies and businesses are disinfecting their facilities with disinfectant the government claims to have produced domestically.
“Everyone is required to wear a mask outside their house and there has been an increasing number of people who are using hand sanitizer,” he added.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
