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In this undated photo distributed by the North Korean government on 12 February, North Korean Premier Kim Jae Ryon (standing) chairs a meeting at the emergency anti-epidemic headquarter in Pyongyang, North Korea Photograph: 朝鮮通信社/AP

North Korea is one of several countries with close ties to China which has not formally reported any coronavirus cases, but may already be battling the disease.



Officials there are clearly extremely worried about the danger of an outbreak, and have have effectively put the entire country into quarantine to try and prevent one, sealing the borders and stopping all international trains and flights.

Despite these precautions, there have been reports of cases in the north, and in the capital Pyongyang, said Jiro Ishimaru, the head of Osaka-based Asia Press, who runs a secret network of citizen journalists inside North Korea.

Speaking to the Guardian’s Tokyo correspondent, Justin McCurry, Ishimaru said:

“There are lots of rumours flying around that some people have been infected near Dandong, just on the Chinese side of the border, and Rason special economic zone (on the North Korean side),” “I have heard from our contacts that some people in Rason have been put in isolation for 20-30 days to prevent an outbreak. There is an unconfirmed report that one man in isolation was arrested and shot after he escaped.”

The US state department has said it would “support and encourage” international efforts to help North Korea fight the disease, despite stringent sanctions on the country because of its nuclear weapons programme.

“The United States is deeply concerned about the vulnerability of the North Korean people to a coronavirus outbreak,” State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement, adding that they would back the work of both American and international aid and health groups.

“The United States is ready and prepared to expeditiously facilitate the approval of assistance from these organisations,” she added.

North Korea has only a rudimentary health system and in a bid to ward off the disease the government has tried to seal off the population from the rest of the world.

It has suspended international tourism, cancelled international flights and cross border trains, summoned officials back from abroad and sent home some South Koreans posted to a “liaison office”.

Pyongyang has also closed the land border with China, normally a somewhat porous frontier that people and goods are smuggled across in both directions.

The border closure has already had a dramatic impact on the economy, which is spreading news of the disease in a society where state media offer little reliable information.

“Given the North’s huge dependence on China for things like food, cooking oil and gasoline, there are shortages of daily necessities. People are asking why that is happening, and that’s how they heard about the coronavirus,” Ishimaru said.

“The authorities can deny that the coronavirus has reached North Korea, but inflation and shortages are a fact of life.”

Another cause for concern has been the apparent disappearance from public life of leader Kim Jong-un. This Sunday is his father’s birthday, when he would be expected to pay his respects to Kim Jong-il, the country’s previous ruler, at a mausoleum in Pyongyang.

“If he doesn’t do that on Sunday or Monday, then it might be a sign that he is concerned about the coronavirus,” Ishimaru said.