感染者「ゼロ」の北朝鮮、新型コロナウイルスで「異例」の対策

【ソウルＡＦＰ＝時事】拡声器から鳴り響く衛生管理を呼び掛ける声、敷地内に閉じ込められた外交官、保健当局への「絶対的服従」を求める国営メディア――北朝鮮は新型コロナウイルス感染症「COVID-19」の流行を防ぐため数々の対策を講じており、外交官からは「異例」との声も上がっている。（写真は資料写真）
　中国で新型コロナウイルスが発生すると、独裁国家である北朝鮮は直ちに国境を封鎖し、外の世界との接触を断った。外交官やアナリストは、医療インフラが脆弱（ぜいじゃく）な北朝鮮にとって、これが自国を守るための最善の策だったと指摘する。
　北朝鮮は新たに入国した人を３０日間隔離し、国内での対策も強化している。国営朝鮮中央通信（ＫＣＮＡ）によると政府は、戸別訪問による検診や、拡声器を取り付けた自動車で市民に衛生指導をするなど「反ウイルス運動」に力を入れている。
　さらに北朝鮮在住の外国人は全員２月初めから各自の敷地内にとどまらなければいけないことになっており、外国人にも厳しい制限が課されている。
　在北朝鮮ロシア大使館のアレクサンドル・マツェゴラ大使は、平壌にいる外交官は市内に出ることができず、「精神的に厳しい」状況に置かれていると話す。
　同大使はロシア国営タス通信に対し、「外交文書を受け取れず（中略）、応急手当てのための医薬品や物資も手に入れられない」と語った。外交業務は事実上、停止しており、北朝鮮当局者や諸外国の大使館との会合や対話、交渉なども行われていないという。
　現在の状況は「異常」だが、「国の重要問題」に対処するためこのような決定を下し実行できるのは、北朝鮮のような「独自」国家だけだと同大使は話す。
　「もちろん物質的な面では、孤立は北朝鮮にとって非常に高くつく」が、いつでも喜んでそのような代償を払うだろうと指摘する。「国家の安全保障、イデオロギー、国の誇りが経済よりも、常に例外なく優先されるということを理解するのが重要だ」

■感染者「ゼロ」
　中国・武漢で発生したＣＯＶＩＤ-１９は、世界に広がっているが、北朝鮮政府は中国の近隣諸国の中で唯一、感染者がいないと主張し続けている。しかし、専門家らはこの主張に懐疑的だ。
　朝鮮労働党の機関紙「労働新聞」は、市民に対し保健当局と国の指示に「絶対的に服従」するよう呼び掛けている。「われわれは、一瞬の油断が取り返しのつかない破滅的な結果を生むことを忘れてはならない。常に厳戒態勢をとるべきだ」
　さらに今週初め、一人でも新型コロナウイルス感染者が出れば「悲惨な結果」になると警告し、レストランを含め大勢が集まる場に行かないよう国民に求めた。
　だが、国家行事にはこの制限は当てはまらないようだ。
　北朝鮮は２６日、国会に当たる最高人民会議の議員らが、金正恩（キム・ジョンウン）朝鮮労働党委員長の父親である金正日（キム・ジョンイル）総書記の生誕の地とされる白頭山を訪れるため列をなしている写真を多数公開した。全員マスクを着用していた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/02/28-12:38）

Loudspeakers blaring hygiene messages, foreign ambassadors locked in their compounds and state media demanding absolute obedience to health authorities -- North Korea is taking what diplomats call unprecedented measures as it seeks to prevent a crippling coronavirus outbreak.
The authoritarian state, led by the ruling Kim family since its foundation in 1948, maintains extensive control over the lives of its citizens and is pulling out all the stops to try to protect itself from the virus that first emerged in neighbouring China, long its key diplomatic ally and trade partner.
After the virus emerged it quickly closed its borders, cutting itself off from the outside world in a move diplomats and analysts say is its best method of self-protection given the weakness of its health infrastructure.
Arrivals are subject to 30 days' isolation and it has stepped up its efforts internally, with the official KCNA describing an intensifying anti-virus campaign, including door-to-door health check-ups and loudspeaker vans instructing citizens on hygiene practices around the country.
Foreigners are facing tough restrictions: all of those resident in the country have been subjected to quarantine at their premises since the beginning of February.
Diplomats in Pyongyang have unable even to walk around the city in what the Russian ambassador described as a morally crushing situation.
The embassy had been left without diplomatic mail... we did not manage to get medicines and supplies for our first-aid post, Alexander Matsegora told Russia's TASS news agency.
Staff could only leave the premises -- which have a prime location in Pyongyang close to the Workers' Party leadership compound -- to take rubbish to a landfill, when Korean specialists immediately disinfect our truck at the gates of the embassy.
The city's Orthodox church, taekwondo gym, skating rink and swimming pool were all off-limits, as were Korean and painting classes. They may seem trifles, but everyday life is made of them.
Diplomatic work had been virtually suspended, he added, with no meetings, conversations or negotiations with North Korean officials or other embassies, while contact with the authorities was limited to phone calls or official notes dropped into a special mailbox.
Only a country as unique as the North could take such a decision to address a problem of national importance and implement it, he said, describing the situation as extraordinary.
In material terms, self-isolation is of course very expensive for the Korean state, he added.
But it would always be willing to pay that price, he went on: It is very important to understand that the issues of state security, the ideology and dignity of the country -- in its North Korean understanding, of course -- always and definitely prevail over economic considerations.
Those who expect sanctions to force the North to make concessions over its nuclear arsenal -- negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington are currently deadlocked -- should recognise that reality, he added.
- 'Irreversible catastrophic consequences' -
The novel coronavirus now known as COVID-19 originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan and has since spread around the world, killing more than 2,700 people.
South Korea has seen a rapid surge of cases in recent days, to well over 1,100, giving it the largest national tally outside China.
But Pyongyang insists that it remains the only one of China's neighbours not to have had a single case.
Observers doubt that, but the Rodong Sinmun, the official mouthpiece of the Workers' Party, urged citizens to show absolute obedience to instructions from health authorities and the state.
We should bear in mind that any moment of complacency could result in irreversible catastrophic consequences and should maintain a high state of alert, it said.
Earlier this week it warned of devastating consequences if the country suffers even one case of coronavirus, recommending people avoid gathering in public places -- even restaurants.
Sitting down and dining together and talking with each other can itself become the main spreading ground of the infectious disease, it said.
But state duties do not appear to be subject to such restrictions: on Wednesday it carried pictures of scores of Supreme People's Assembly officials lining up to visit the supposed birthplace of Kim Jong Il, the father and predecessor of the current leader Kim Jong Un, at Mount Paektu.
All of them wore masks.