* article derived from joyellenyoon.com
Unlike other previous world-wide outbreaks, for the time being the DPRK has completely closed its borders. No one is currently allowed in or out of the country. Even within the country, local workers employed by foreign ventures were given a 24-hour notice that they would be quarantined, as well. Local workers at these foreign ventures in North Korea are currently in the middle of a 30-day quarantine at their workplace.
As a result, our humanitarian team has been significantly affected by the coronavirus outbreak in China. Not only are millions of people suffering through Chinese country-wide regulations that keep major cities under lock-down and individuals homebound but also much-needed humanitarian aid is not able to enter bordering countries like North Korea. In addition, as large companies and factories have temporarily shut down in China, the standstill in the Chinese economy is having a ripple effect in bordering countries like Mongolia and the DPRK.
IGNIS Community team has been affected by the coronavirus perhaps even more than other teams. Since the humanitarian work we do in North Korea includes a wide array of medical work, we have medical professionals on our team that also serve in China. One of our team members was assigned to screen individuals for the coronavirus on a bordering city in China. Within just a few days, she came across a patient with the virus and consequently was quarantined in the hospital due to her exposure.
Unfortunately, the coronavirus outbreak has also come at a critical time for our Pyongyang Spine Rehabilitation Center. After finally raising the needed funds and obtaining both a US Commerce License and UN Exemption, IGNIS Community has been in the process of shipping necessary medical and rehabilitation equipment to Pyongyang for the treatment of pediatric developmental disabilities and various spinal conditions. It was extremely difficult to find a vessel to ship our medical equipment to the DPRK in the midst of global sanctions, but IGNIS Community finally found a shipping company to transport our medical container into North Korea. Then the coronavirus outbreak occurred. Now all shipments, without exception, are no longer traveling to North Korea. The coronavirus has not only restricted human traffic to the DPRK but also the transport of all materials into the country, including humanitarian aid.
With special validation passports from the US State Department, two of our IGNIS Community teams, one medical and one humanitarian team, were scheduled to visit North Korea in March. Both teams were in the process of obtaining visas from the DPRK government when we received official notice from Pyongyang. Due to the coronavirus, all visits to North Korea have been temporarily suspended. A few cases of coronavirus have already been confirmed in different parts of North Korea. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that it will be several months before trips are once again allowed into the country.
There is no knowing when North Korea’s borders will reopen. But if past viral outbreaks are any indicator, the DPRK may be one of the last countries to reopen its borders. Past world-wide outbreaks had no confirmed cases within North Korea, but the coronavirus has already crossed the DPRK border. We can only assume that it will be several months before humanitarian workers are once again allowed into the country. In the meantime, both global sanctions and closed borders continue to isolate the country and add to the lack of sufficient medical care every day for people in North Korea.