JOY ELLEN YOON — Living Three Years Under COVID

When news of COVID first hit in January of 2020, North Korea immediately closed its borders. The country reacted the same way they had to other pandemics including SARS, Ebola, and MERS. But unlike these other pandemics, North Korea instituted a complete border lockdown, not allowing people to cross the border as well as most goods. Food, medicine, and other supplies were banned from being imported into or exported from the country. Even North Korean diplomats were stranded outside the country and have yet to return home since the onset of the pandemic.

Compounded by an already declining economy due to global sanctions, North Koreans now use every resource available to them to feed their people. City workers have been reallocated to the countryside for farming. Entire companies have converted their factories from manufacturing goods to raising livestock and cultivating meat. Every household has done their part to grow as much food to feed the North Korean population in the midst of shortages.

Strict border lockdowns remained in effect until the end of January this year when freight trains started to cross from the Chinese border into North Korea. Two years of lockdown had taken its toll on the economy, and much-needed supplies began entering the nation.

However, this small opening in the border ultimately resulted in the spread of COVID. Several months after these trains began running, Pyongyang officially announced the first case of COVID on May 12, 2022. The virus quickly spread across the country and into Pyongyang resulting in hundreds of thousands of people contracting the virus.

Once again, strict anti-COVID measures were put into place. Public areas were sanitized and strict quarantines were implemented. Pyongyang instituted “maximum emergency” measures that once again included a nation-wide lockdown. Air-tight border closings remain in effect today, nearly three years after they first closed.

Recently, though, North Korea has started to indicate that they are preparing to once again re-open the border for the import of goods. As a result, humanitarian organizations, such as IGNIS Community, are currently preparing to send in shipments as soon as borders re-open. At the top of the list of items to send in include nutritional support for children and medical supplies for people throughout the nation.

One thing is certain. Until the World Health Organization (WHO) declares an end to the COVID-19 Pandemic, North Korea’s borders are likely to remained closed. Even if goods are allowed across the border again, people will most likely not be able to travel until the pandemic is officially over world-wide. Unfortunately, WHO-Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced in September this year that the end of the pandemic is in sight, but it is not yet here.