North Korean television aired videos of Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in which viewers said Kim had a fever during the coronavirus outbreak and cried.

Leader Kim “had a high fever when the virus broke out,” his sister said.

Yoo Jung noted that “Kim suffered from a high fever during this war-like period of isolation, but he could not lie down for a moment thinking about the people responsible for him.”

The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has blamed South Korea for the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country and threatened to “retaliate” as Pyongyang declared “victory” against the pandemic.

Corona Balloons

North Korea has previously blamed the outbreak of Covid-19 on its soil on “strange things” happening near its border with the South, accusations strongly denied by Seoul. Despite the ban, which took effect in 2021, South Korean activists have for years sent balloons carrying leaflets and US dollars across the border into the North, something Pyongyang has long opposed.

The North’s Korean Central News Agency said on Thursday that Yoo Jong blamed cross-border activities for the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in the North, which it considers a “crime against humanity”.

In turn, Kim Jong Un declared “victory” over the country’s recent outbreak of the coronavirus, insisting the country had “eradicated” the virus.

But while celebrating the end of the “war of isolation,” Kim said, “The DPRK will continue anti-epidemic measures and border controls to prevent new mutants from entering the country, warning of the possibility of another health nightmare.”