South Korea Ready To Send Medical Aid To North Korea Amid COVID-19 Outbreak - President

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th May, 2022) South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said on Monday he is ready to send COVID-19 vaccines, health care personnel and other medical assistance to North Korea, if Pyongyang accepts it, to help the country deal with the spread of a fever believed to be COVID-19.

"If the North Korean authorities accept, we will not spare any necessary support, such as medicine, including COVID-19 vaccines, medical equipment and health care personnel," the president said, as quoted by the Yonhap news agency.

Yoon was cited as saying that Seoul will provide Pyongyang with humanitarian assistance regardless of political and military situation between the two countries.

"We must not hold back on providing necessary assistance to the North Korean people, who are exposed to the threat of the coronavirus," the South Korean leader said, as quoted in the report.

Last Thursday, Pyongyang announced the first wave of COVID-19 cases in the country, as several citizens tested positive for the Omicron BA.2 variant. According to the Korean Central News Agency, an "unfamiliar fever" has been spreading in the country since late April.�The fever is believed to be COVID-19, but the exact number of patients remains unknown.

On Sunday, North Korea confirmed over 392,000 new cases and eight deaths. To date, the country's total number of infections has reached over 1.2 million, including 50 deaths.