Who is the person who is likened to the North Korean doctor Fauci?

The little-known official mentioned above is Mr. Ryu Yong-chol, who has just become the face of the fight against Covid-19 in North Korea, similar to the White House’s chief anti-epidemic adviser Anthony Fauci or the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. epidemic control and prevention Korea Jeong Eun-kyeong, according to Reuters today May 20.

Mr. Ryu worked at the state emergency prevention agency, according to the KCNA news agency. This agency seems to have just been created to deal with Covid-19. Like the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, North Korea’s new agency announced updates about the pandemic every day, chaired by Mr. Ryu, even without questions from reporters.

Ryu Yong-chol, of North Korea’s state emergency pandemic prevention agency, speaks on the daily Covid-19 program on state television KRT. Reuters

Currently, not much is known about Mr. Ryu, including his medical degree. In a news release in July 2017, a general manager of Ministry of Health North Korea with the same name accused South Korea of ​​conspiring to launch a biological weapons attack on leader Kim Jong-un. South Korea has denied that allegation. An official from South Korea’s Unification Ministry confirmed that Ryu held the same position, but it was not clear if Ryu was the director general in the July 2017 report.

For more than 2 years, with the border closed, North Korea has not recorded any cases of infection Covid-19 any. However, since it confirmed its first case of Covid-19 last week, North Korea seems to have changed policywhich publishes detailed data on the spread of Covid-19 and offers ways to respond to the pandemic.

“We should step up efforts to control and isolate each infected person to eliminate any space in which this infectious disease can spread,” Ryu stressed in today’s newsletter, May 20, and called for “prevent vulnerabilities”.

Up to now, North Korea The announcement recorded 2,241,610 people with fever symptoms and 65 deaths from fever, out of a total population of 25 million. North Korea is believed to have a shortage of testing equipment and it is not clear how many of those with fever symptoms are confirmed to be infected with Covid-19, according to Reuters.

Professor Yang Moo-jin at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul said that North Korea’s strategy of publicizing the Covid-19 epidemic situation is consistent with leader Kim’s push to build a “normal state”. by improving transparency and acknowledging shortcomings. “He (leader Kim Jong-un) can also encourage people to report symptoms and join efforts to prevent outbreaks, where public participation plays an important role.” Mr. Yang commented.

An official at South Korea’s Unification Ministry said that North Korea may have learned lessons from other countries and is releasing the figures as part of an effort to “mobilize all available means” to fight back. translation, according to Reuters.