A flood of suspected COVID-19 deaths and cases in North Korea’s Eighth Corps based in Ryongsan-ri, Yomju County, North Pyongan Province, has led to an unprecedented lockdown of a base’s entire housing district.
According to a Daily NK source in the North Korean military in North Pyongan Province on Wednesday, the incident dates back to mid-September. A staff sergeant identified by his family name of Cho was brought to the infirmary of the headquarters of the Eighth Corps; he suddenly died 10 days later.
Cho was the deputy squad leader of First Squad, Second Platoon of one of the corps’ guard companies.
The corps’ security department launched an internal investigation of the unexplained death. Matters reportedly exploded when they learned that Cho had broken state emergency quarantine rules.
The investigators learned that in early September, Cho had taken a wooden sailboat to go fishing off Yeomju’s Taege Island, despite travel being restricted at the time.
Investigators also learned that several days after returning to his unit in accordance with orders, he was hospitalized with fever and soon died. Military authorities believed it could be COVID-19 due to Cho’s contact “with the outside” and high fever.
The problems did not end there. The Eighth Corps fell into a literal state of emergency as personnel Cho had contact with also began to show symptoms of COVID-19.
The source said five Eighth Corps nurses and some army doctors who displayed symptoms were immediately put into isolation. However, when it was later learned that they walked around the base housing district, the incident grew into an even bigger deal.
Accordingly, the Eighth Corps deployed additional unit quarantine posts on all exits and roads to Ryongsan-ri. From Sept. 29, the entire base housing district reportedly went into lockdown.
Specifically, residents of the area were banned from travelling or even leaving their homes, and outsiders were banned from entering.
Military authorities plan to maintain the lockdown until Nov. 18 while keeping an eye on the progress of the other suspected cases. This means they regard the situation as a very grave matter.
“This is the first time in the entire military that the house of even a corps commander has been locked down,” said the source. “The Eighth Corps is facing considerable trouble preparing for training and the winter due to the lockdown, but they’ve decided that the situation must come to a conclusion before the start of the winter training [Dec. 1].”
Additionally, the Eighth Corps has isolated all the officers and enlisted personnel with whom Cho came into contact in separate hospital facilities designated by the corps. The corps has also begun testing soldiers by sub-battalion. Commanders also burned the sailboat Cho took, said the source.
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