Red Cross delivered $700K of COVID-19 aid to North Korea, report says

Dec. 23 (UPI) -- The International Red Cross delivered COVID-19 supplies worth $700,000 to North Korea, including equipment for at least 5,500 people in quarantine.

Radio Free Asia's Korean service reported the North accepted shipments of kitchen supplies, 5,000 blankets, 1,000 units of hygiene products and 1,000 water bottles for the maintenance of thousands of people in quarantine facilities.

Pyongyang has said there are "zero" cases of COVID-19 in the country, but has also told the World Health Organization the regime has registered thousands of people as "suspected cases." The WHO does not have direct access to the North Korean population.

The Red Cross estimates of goods sent to the country covers the period from Jan. 31 to Dec. 8, according to RFA. North Korea shut its borders at the beginning of the year and has not fully reopened to China, its biggest trading partner.

The international aid group said more than 100,000 North Korean Red Cross volunteers were mobilized in anti-epidemic measures from late January to late October. The International Red Cross also estimates more than 4.7 million North Koreans were able to receive the benefits of international aid, the report said.

North Korea never has publicly admitted to accepting COVID-19 aid from the outside world. Earlier this month, the Red Cross said all foreign staff members left the country.

In October, during the 75th anniversary of the Korean Workers' Party, Kim Jong Un said North Korean personnel were the key to battling the virus.

"I thank them for their good health without any one of them having fallen victim to the malignant virus," Kim said.

North Korea is waging an 80-day productivity campaign ahead of its Eighth Party Congress in January.

North Korea's Foreign Languages Publishing House said Wednesday it has released a new book of photographs commemorating Kim's rule and his "miraculous achievements," according to South Korean television network KBS.

The book includes a chapter on Kim's efforts to overcome the pandemic, according to the report.