{"id":47225,"date":"2020-12-21T10:34:10","date_gmt":"2020-12-21T01:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?p=47225"},"modified":"2026-04-05T14:33:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T05:33:01","slug":"north-korean-leadership-orders-public-health-officials-focus-all-efforts-vaccine-acquisition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-leadership-orders-public-health-officials-focus-all-efforts-vaccine-acquisition\/","title":{"rendered":"North Korean leadership orders public health officials to focus all efforts on vaccine acquisition"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As governments around the world set out to secure COVID-19 vaccines, North Korean authorities have also reportedly issued an order to secure as much vaccine as quickly as possible.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to a Daily NK source in North Korea on Thursday, the Central Committee recently ordered the Ministry of Public Health and Ministry of Foreign Affairs to focus all their abilities on securing vaccines, even if that means putting aside other activities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Accordingly, a working group and other officials from the Ministry of Public Health have already been dispatched to China, said the source. The ministry and the Central Committee\u2019s Organization and Guidance Department are receiving daily situation reports from the team in China on vaccine acquisition.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Moreover, the officials sent to China are currently carrying out comprehensive analysis reports on the side effects of COVID-19 such as post-inoculation pain or fever.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">North Korea apparently has a reporting structure in place in which Kim Yo Jong &#8211; the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un &#8211; is overseeing the general content of the vaccine reports, directly reporting the results to her brother. It appears North Korean authorities consider the acquisition of vaccines such a matter of life or death that Kim Jong Un is receiving real-time reports on the vaccines.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Central Committee has also reportedly ordered that all possible means and methods be mobilized so that North Korea can develop its own vaccines.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Currently, the Biological Industry Research Center of Kim Il Sung University is handling working-level research to develop a vaccine, assisted by the Reconnaissance General Bureau, which is handling \u201chacking\u201d-related work. This means North Korean authorities have officially mobilized a hacking organization to secure information on COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_45999\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-45999\" style=\"width: 845px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-45999\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/origin_\ucf54\ub85c\ub09819\ubc1c\uc5f4\uac80\uc0ac\ud558\ub294\ubd81\ud55c\uc758\ub8cc\uc9c4.jpg\" alt=\"covid quarantine\" width=\"845\" height=\"496\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/origin_\ucf54\ub85c\ub09819\ubc1c\uc5f4\uac80\uc0ac\ud558\ub294\ubd81\ud55c\uc758\ub8cc\uc9c4.jpg 845w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/origin_\ucf54\ub85c\ub09819\ubc1c\uc5f4\uac80\uc0ac\ud558\ub294\ubd81\ud55c\uc758\ub8cc\uc9c4-300x176.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/origin_\ucf54\ub85c\ub09819\ubc1c\uc5f4\uac80\uc0ac\ud558\ub294\ubd81\ud55c\uc758\ub8cc\uc9c4-768x451.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/origin_\ucf54\ub85c\ub09819\ubc1c\uc5f4\uac80\uc0ac\ud558\ub294\ubd81\ud55c\uc758\ub8cc\uc9c4-696x409.jpg 696w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/origin_\ucf54\ub85c\ub09819\ubc1c\uc5f4\uac80\uc0ac\ud558\ub294\ubd81\ud55c\uc758\ub8cc\uc9c4-716x420.jpg 716w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 845px) 100vw, 845px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-45999\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Disease control officials testing drivers for COVID-19 symptoms in Pyongyang&#8217;s Manggyongdae District. \/ Image: Rodong Sinmun<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In fact, Reuters <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/uk-healthcare-coronavirus-astrazeneca-no\/exclusive-suspected-north-korean-hackers-targeted-covid-vaccine-maker-astrazeneca-sources-idUKKBN28719Y\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">reported<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on Nov. 27 that hackers presumed to be working for North Korea attempted to hack UK-based pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, which is developing a coronavirus vaccine.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Additionally, South Korea\u2019s National Intelligence Agency told the National Assembly\u2019s Intelligence Committee late last month that North Korea \u201cattempted to hack domestic [South Korean] pharmaceutical companies in relation to COVID-19 vaccines.\u201d However, South Korea \u201cblocked [the attacks],\u201d reported the spy agency.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">North Korea, however, is keeping silent on the suspicions surrounding the hacking attempts on pharmaceutical companies working on COVID-19 vaccines. This starkly contrasts with North Korea\u2019s immediate refutation of a US government warning about North Korean hacking in August. Pyongyang said at the time that Washington was \u201cpeddling nonsense.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Meanwhile, with attention focusing on a claim that Kim Jong Un was recently inoculated with a COVID-19 vaccine, a high-ranking source in North Korea told Daily NK this \u201cwasn\u2019t true.\u201d The source said even if North Korea had brought in a vaccine, it would not have injected the \u201cSupreme Leader\u201d first prior to confirming its safety.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The source added that North Korea is trying to acquire US, German or British-made vaccines since the country\u2019s leadership places little trust in Chinese-made vaccines. Because of this, he said, Kim would not have taken a Chinese-made vaccine.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Given that North Korea\u2019s leadership prefers vaccines developed by Western countries, it seems North Korean hacking attempts of pharmaceutical companies in the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and elsewhere will escalate.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"td-post-header\"><em>Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.<\/em><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"td-post-header\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/%e5%8c%97-%eb%b0%b1%ec%8b%a0-%ed%99%95%eb%b3%b4-%eb%b6%80%ec%9e%91%ec%9a%a9-%eb%b6%84%ec%84%9d%ec%97%90-%ec%b4%9d%eb%a0%a5-%eb%b3%b4%ea%b1%b4%ec%84%b1%c2%b7%ec%99%b8%eb%ac%b4%ec%84%b1\/\">Read in Korean<\/a><\/em><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As governments around the world set out to secure COVID-19 vaccines, North Korean authorities have also reportedly issued an order to secure as much vaccine as quickly as possible. According to a Daily NK source in North Korea on Thursday, the Central Committee recently ordered the Ministry of Public Health and Ministry of Foreign Affairs [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":46923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[763],"class_list":["post-47225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-covid-19"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v28.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>North Korean leadership orders public health officials to focus all efforts on vaccine acquisition - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-leadership-orders-public-health-officials-focus-all-efforts-vaccine-acquisition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"North Korean leadership orders public health officials to focus all efforts on vaccine acquisition\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As governments around the world set out to secure COVID-19 vaccines, North Korean authorities have also reportedly issued an order to secure as much vaccine as quickly as possible. According to a Daily NK source in North Korea on Thursday, the Central Committee recently ordered the Ministry of Public Health and Ministry of Foreign Affairs [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-leadership-orders-public-health-officials-focus-all-efforts-vaccine-acquisition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-21T01:34:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-05T05:33:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/11\/\ubd81\ud55c\ucf54\ub85c\ub09819\ubc29\uc5ed\ucca0\uc800\u2026\uac01\uc885\uc18c\ub3c5\uc0ac\uc5c5\uc9c4\ud589.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"741\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"537\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Seulkee Jang\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Seulkee Jang\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-leadership-orders-public-health-officials-focus-all-efforts-vaccine-acquisition\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-leadership-orders-public-health-officials-focus-all-efforts-vaccine-acquisition\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Seulkee Jang\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/194958ce83d17408851c1d378fa83857\"},\"headline\":\"North Korean leadership orders public health officials to focus all efforts on vaccine acquisition\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-21T01:34:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-05T05:33:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-leadership-orders-public-health-officials-focus-all-efforts-vaccine-acquisition\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":588,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-leadership-orders-public-health-officials-focus-all-efforts-vaccine-acquisition\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/\ubd81\ud55c\ucf54\ub85c\ub09819\ubc29\uc5ed\ucca0\uc800\u2026\uac01\uc885\uc18c\ub3c5\uc0ac\uc5c5\uc9c4\ud589.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"covid-19\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-leadership-orders-public-health-officials-focus-all-efforts-vaccine-acquisition\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-leadership-orders-public-health-officials-focus-all-efforts-vaccine-acquisition\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-leadership-orders-public-health-officials-focus-all-efforts-vaccine-acquisition\\\/\",\"name\":\"North Korean leadership orders public health officials to focus all efforts on vaccine acquisition - 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