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North Korean leader fell ill with fever during coronavirus outbreak, sister says

Earlier, Kim Jong-un declared a victory over the coronavirus
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un EPA-EFE/KCNA
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un
© EPA-EFE/KCNA

TOKYO, August 11. /TASS/. North Korean Kim Jong-un leader fell ill during a coronavirus outbreak in the country, his sister Kim Yo-jong, the Deputy Department Director of the Publicity and Information Department of the Workers' Party of Korea, said in a statement on Thursday.

"Even though he was seriously ill with a high fever, he did not allow himself to lie down for a minute, thinking about the people that he had to take care of in the fight against the epidemic," she pointed out.

Kim Jong-un earlier declared a victory over the coronavirus. Over 4.7 mln fever patients have been identified in North Korea since late April, and 99.9% of them have recovered. According to the latest available data, the country recorded 74 fatalities.

Meanwhile, Kim Yo-jon stated that Pyongyang was concerned about the fact that the virus had started spreading in the regions bordering South Korea. "We have come to the conclusion that we no longer can ignore the continuous influx of trash from South Korea. It is just an unethical crime. The important thing is that South Korean puppets keep sending leaflets and dirty objects across the border to our territory," Kim Yo-jon added. Seoul rejected these accusations.

North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on May 12 that the country had detected its first ‘fever’ cases. New daily cases peaked at 392,920 on May 15 and then started to decline. On July 30, the authorities announced that no new fever patients had been reported in the previous day.