Prolonged COVID-19, North Korea's Response,
and Implications of Inter-Korean Health and Medical Cooperation
Dr. CHOI Eun-ju
Research Fellow,
The Sejong Institute
English Abstract
North Korea has closed its borders and pushed for intense disease-control policies upon the outbreak of COVID-19. As a result, there is no official report of serious casualties due to the COVID-19 in North Korea. As the COVID-19 pandemic prolongs, however, preventive measures based on closing borders can seriously hurt the North Korean economy, and thus difficult to maintain. Sooner or later, North Korea needs to resume foreign relations. At this point, North Korea must establish a material and an institutional basis for stable interactions through cooperation with neighboring countries instead of pursuing a complete closure of its borders. Although recent issues raised between the two Koreas should be solved at first, the South Korean government must prepare for a possible health and medical cooperation with North Korea along with the effort to resume overall inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation.
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