DPRK’s state news service has identified Kim as the first suspected Coronavirus case on North Korean soil – this, despite South Korean authorities claiming that Kim was neither a confirmed coronavirus patient nor on any contact tracing list.

Meanwhile, from the article published by Rodong Sinmun:

The anti-epidemic organization said that as an uncertain result was made from several medical check-ups of the secretion of that person’s upper respiratory organ and blood, the person was put under strict quarantine as a primary step

So, the DPRK did their own tests to check that person for coronavirus. Is it that hard to understand?

Also, I’m not sure how they know that:

a 24-year-old man, identified only with the surname “Kim,” crawled through a drainage ditch in Northwestern ROK’s Ganghwa Island and proceeded to swim across the DMZ to North Korean shores under the cover of night

if in a different part of the article they say:

South Korean authorities allegedly did not learn of Kim’s escape until it was reported by North Korean state media

The DPRK media didn’t mention his name, age, or how he escaped. (Maybe they did some further investigation, but still you can’t be sure that they identified the correct person.)

Nevertheless, the growing prevalence of redefection suggests that there is more work to be done when it comes to monitoring and preventing unauthorized movements along the DMZ.

The epidemic of redefections likewise exposes the broader problem that South Korea currently lacks any system by which to track resettled North Korean defectors, just under 1,000 of whom have since ‘disappeared’ by migrating overseas without a forwarding address – a portion of these migrants were found to have returned to DPRK by way of China.

So, when the DPRK does it, it’s a form of oppression, but when south Korea does it, it’s completely fine? The amount of hypocrisy would be funny if it wasn’t so prevalent.

From missile defense systems to advanced homegrown fighters, South Korea’s military-industrial complex has made immense strides in acquiring high-end military hardware

So. Much. Hypocrisy.

Honestly, that’s what to be expected of a source that describes itself on its “About” page as:

It is not, as the inaugural statement declared, about world affairs. It is about American interests. It is guided by the belief that nothing will enhance those interests as effectively as the approach to foreign affairs commonly known as realism—a school of thought traditionally associated with such thinkers and statesmen as Disraeli, Bismarck, and Henry Kissinger.

They’re also owned by the “Center for the National Interest”. Which also seems to uphold that war criminal Kissinger.

Still, thanks for posting. I didn’t know that this was a problem to the south.