North Korean leader Kim was 'seriously ill' during Covid-19 outbreak

SEOUL • Mr Kim Jong Un's influential sister has revealed that North Korea's leader had a "high fever" during a recent Covid-19 outbreak, as she vowed to "eradicate" South Korea's leaders if they continued to let propaganda leaflets cross the border.

Repeating dubious claims that the pamphlets caused the recent Covid-19 outbreak in the north, Ms Kim Yo Jong blamed "South Korean puppets" for sending "dirty objects" across the border in leaflets carried by balloons, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported yesterday.

Her revelation of her brother's illness marked an unusual admission for a regime that rarely comments on the leader's health. Typically it is done for political purposes to show he has been affected by the same struggles facing the people.

Ms Kim said in a speech that her brother suffered from a "fever" and was "seriously ill", according to KCNA. Still, he "could not lie down for even a moment because of his concerns for the people".

She did not say if Mr Kim was among what North Korea calls "fever cases" or specify a date of his illness.

The North's government has claimed that "alien things" sent across the border by balloons from the south brought the coronavirus into its territory - with health experts and the South Korean government saying there are no precedents for that type of transmission.

"It is quite natural for us to consider strange objects as vehicles of the malignant pandemic disease," Ms Kim said, adding that her brother guided an "epoch-making miracle" in eradicating the virus.

Meanwhile, Mr Kim has declared victory over Covid-19, ordering the lifting of maximum anti-epidemic measures imposed in May. He added that the country must maintain a "steel-strong anti-epidemic barrier and intensify the anti-epidemic work until the end of the global health crisis", KCNA said.

North Korea has never confirmed how many people caught Covid-19, but instead has reported daily numbers of patients with fever, a tally that rose to some 4.77 million. But it has registered no such new cases since July 29.

The country has refused vaccines from the outside world, with reports saying planned shipments have been put on hold because it is unwilling to follow rules by Covax, a body backed by the World Health Organisation.

The remarks by Ms Kim, who has been the face of North Korea's pressure campaign and against Washington and Seoul, included her first threat against the government of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol who took power in May.

"If the enemy continues to do such a dangerous thing that can introduce virus into our republic, we will respond by eradicating not only the virus but also the South Korean authorities," she said in a speech at a meeting of ruling party officials.

BLOOMBERG, REUTERS