With the cumulative number of North Koreans with high fever passing 1 million, a civic forum has called for the government to support the North swiftly and ease sanctions on the communist country.
“Since 2020, the U.N. Chief Human Rights Representative and Special Rapporteur on North Korean Human Rights have recommended easing or suspending North Korea sanctions amid the Covid-19 pandemic,” the Civil Peace Forum said Tuesday.
However, the sanctions on the North have continued, and, although the South Korean government has continued to propose cooperation in quarantine and health affairs, it took few steps to improve inter-Korean relations and build trust, the forum added.
The forum, a network of peace organizations in South Korea, noted that Covid-19 is spreading in North Korea in a situation where dialogue and negotiations have been interrupted due to the failure to implement agreements between two Koreas and the U.S.
“It is especially painful to see the inter-Korean agreements in health and medical areas in 2018 are not being implemented,” the forum stated. “What’s needed most to overcome crisis are “sincere attitudes.”
The form called for the South Korean government and the international community to provide Covid-19 diagnostic equipment and vaccines unconditionally to help the North combat the pandemic more effectively. It then insisted the related parties should begin to discuss easing or suspending economic sanctions on Pyongyang.
“North Koreans’ vaccination rate is zero percent, and the fatality rate of unvaccinated people is more than 10 times higher than vaccinated ones. We are additionally concerned that the death toll and infection in the North would rise even further as the communist country has weak health infrastructure and lacks basic medical supplies,” it said. “The government and international community must support medical products, quarantine goods, diagnostic devices, and vaccines without conditions, and devise all measures to this end.”
Pointing out that intense sanctions have made it difficult for North Korea to respond to the rapidly spreading epidemic effectively, the forum said, “If the North fails in quarantine and let variants occur there, it could develop into a global risk.”
That explains why it is urgent to relax sanctions on North Korea and jointly cope with the situation there on a global level, the forum said, adding that the easing of military tension and improving inter-Korean ties are issues directly related to the safety of all Koreans.
“The North Korean government should also take effective steps to minimize its residents’ sufferings and damage,” the forum said. “National shutdowns alone cannot block the virus spread. Pyongyang should favorably respond to Seoul’s proposal for cooperation and find solutions together. To overcome the crisis, the efforts of South and North Korea, and the international community, including the United States, are needed.”