{"id":4773,"date":"2020-12-01T16:24:27","date_gmt":"2020-12-01T07:24:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.01.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/?p=4773"},"modified":"2022-05-16T18:01:09","modified_gmt":"2022-05-16T09:01:09","slug":"korona-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/2020\/12\/society-economy\/korona-2\/","title":{"rendered":"\uff1cInside N. Korea\uff1e Residents Face Starvation as Border City is Blocked Off to Contain Potential COVID-19 Outbreak"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The usual view of a street in front of Hyesan Market, which was recently shut down due to the lockdown. Photographed by ASIAPRESS in September 2014.<\/p><\/div>\n

An outbreak of coronavirus is suspected in Hyesan, the central city of Ryanggang Province in the north, and the entire city has been placed in lockdown since November 2. There is friction between authorities and residents, who are struggling to obtain food due to restrictions and there have also been reports of starvation. (Kang Ji-won\/ISHIMARU Jiro<\/em>)<\/p>\n

According to accounts from multiple reporting partners living in Hyesan City, the reason for the lockdown was the authorities\u2019 fear of a coronavirus outbreak due to recent smuggling between China.<\/p>\n

Daily NK, a South Korean media outlet specializing in North Korea, reported that the lockdown was ordered after authorities uncovered smuggling among border guards. In addition, RFA (Radio Free Asia) reported that the lockdown came after the discovery of large-scale gold smuggling. In Hyesan, which is completely locked down, residents were banned from going out and the market was closed.<\/p>\n

A reporting partner in Hyesan said on November 19, \u201cI can\u2019t even go next door. Apart from the cars of the secret police and police, the streets are totally empty- not a single ant is wandering about. No one goes to work and nobody is being mobilized.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Map of North Korea (produced by ASIAPRESS)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u25c6 Residents going hungry due to lockdown orders<\/h2>\n

The blockade has seriously affected the lives of residents. First of all, the market was closed, making it impossible to buy food. The authorities said that inminban leaders and administrative staff, called \u201cvolunteers,\u201d could go to each household to check whether there were any coronavirus symptoms and to purchase rice on their behalf.<\/p>\n

Another reporting partner in Hyesan City said the following about the situation under the lockdown.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe volunteers deliver 10 to 20 kg of Chinese rice to each house, but it\u2019s not enough. It can be purchased at around 3,000 won per kilogram, which is slightly cheaper than the market price. People who don't have money though are starving, and they are protesting fiercely because they can\u2019t even leave their houses.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to reporting partners, people who do not have cash cannot sell their household items for food because they are not allowed out. Those who do manage to leave their house and try to make their way to nearby farmlands to scour the ground for fallen grain, however, face the obstacle of being stopped at checkpoints.<\/p>\n

In addition, it is said that residents are having to use chamber pots in their homes, which they may later empty in communal public toilets according to shifts.
\nNextPage: \u25c6 You cannot leave your home... <\/strong><\/p>\n

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Hyesan City, photographed from the Chinese side of the Yalu River. Photographed by Jinsoo Lee in July 2010.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u25c6 You cannot leave your home, even to dispose of a corpse<\/h2>\n

Multiple sources have confirmed reports of starvation in the area.<\/p>\n

It was reported that in a central district of Hyesan City, someone died of starvation, but the family was not allowed to take the body out of the apartment due to the lockdown, so a vehicle eventually came from the crematorium for the body to be loaded into.<\/p>\n

In another area, a couple were tragically found days after their death in their apartment.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are dying of hunger and disease because of the lockdown, not coronavirus,\u201d said a reporting partner, explaining the miserable reality of the blockade.<\/p>\n

\u25c6 Chinese side wary of coronavirus coming in from North Korea<\/h2>\n

Across the Yalu River from Hyesan City, the influence of coronavirus is also being felt in Changbai County in Jilin Province, China. On November 20, a resident of Changbai County said that a coronavirus outbreak had supposedly occurred in Hyesan due to smuggling with China, passing on information that the testing of residents began in Hyesan City from November 10.<\/p>\n

According to reporting partners in Hyesan city, local authorities declared that the lockdown would last for 20 days, ending on November 21 or 22.<\/p>\n

\u203b ASIAPRESS contacts its reporting partners in North Korea through smuggled Chinese mobile phones.<\/p>\n

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