NORTH Korea today recorded six Covid-19 deaths and said more than 18,000 people are showing fever symptoms nationwide, as Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un blames loopholes in the virus control and prevention system in the country.

“On May 12, about 18,000 cases of people with fever were reported nationwide. Of the total, 187,800 are currently isolated and treated,” said the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), as quoted by Yonhap.

Of the six deaths, one was linked to the Omicron variant, it added.

The announcement comes a day after the secretive country acknowledged the coronavirus outbreak and declared a shift to a “maximum emergency” antivirus system.

It yesterday announced its first case of Covid-19, with Kim appearing in public wearing a mask for the first time as he presided over an emergency politburo meeting.

An unknown fever “explosively” spread across the country with a population of 24 million since late last month, affecting 350,000 people, according to KCNA.

A total of 162,200 people have fully recovered so far, it added.

North Korea has refused to accept millions of Covid-19 vaccine doses from the Covax global distribution programme, claiming it is coronavirus-free and has set strict border controls over the past two years against the pandemic.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry said the North’s revelation of confirmed Covid-19 cases is unprecedented and Seoul is willing to provide medical and humanitarian aid to its impoverished neighbour.

“We are closely watching the situation in North Korea,” said ministry acting spokesman Cha Duck-chul during a regular briefing, as reported by Yonhap.

“The government’s stance is that assistance to North Koreans and inter-Korean cooperation in the quarantine and health care sectors can be carried out at any time from a humanitarian perspective.”

However, Seoul has yet to take any concrete step to offer coronavirus-related aid to Pyongyang, he added.

A total of 95.5 billion won (RM326 million) is earmarked for inter-Korean cooperation in the South-North Cooperation Fund this year, according to the ministry. – Bernama, May 13, 2022.