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| Kim Jong-un and South Korea's Moon Jae-in in better days. (Photo by=Getty Images) |
[아시아뉴스통신=레악카나 기자] North Korea's No. 2 leader has visited the border city of Kaesong to inspect antivirus efforts, state media reported Thursday, after leader Kim Jong-un sealed off the town over virus fears following the return of a defector from South Korea. On Sunday, North Korea said that it has put Kaesong on lockdown, claiming that a "runaway" defector suspected of COVID-19 infection recently came back from the South.
Seoul later said a North Korean defector is believed to have swum across the border but doubted he had contracted the virus.Choe Ryong-hae, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, visited Kaesong and inspected emergency antivirus efforts underway in the town, according to the Korean Central News Agency.
It is still unclear whether the report means the defector with virus symptoms eventually tested negative for the disease or not. State media earlier said the defector has been put under "strict" quarantine after several medical checkups produced an "uncertain result."
State media, however, said Thursday there has been no COVID-19 infection in North Korea, the first mention that the country remains virus-free. Pyongyang has called its fight against the virus a "political matter" that will determine the fate of the country.
