By John Burton
A trifecta once meant a winning horse racing bet in which the first-, second- and third-place finishers were chosen in the correct order. But in the case of North Korea, it has meant a losing streak over the past year as the country has suffered triple blows from COVID-19 restrictions, natural disasters and the continued impact of international sanctions.
North Korea was one of the first countries in the world to go into self-quarantine against COVID-19 when it closed its borders in January 2020 and imposed travel restrictions within the country. Trade with China, North Korea's biggest trading partner, fell by 80 percent last year, including rice supplies and other food imports. Pyongyang believed that such strict controls were necessary since the spread of COVID-19 would overwhelm its fragile healthcare system.
Meanwhile, several severe typhoons last summer flooded farmland, reducing crop output. This has exacerbated persistent food shortages. The U.S. and the U.N. have estimated that at least 40 percent of the population is malnourished.
As a result, North Korea's already dire humanitarian situation has grown even worse. Pyongyang's stringent measures against COVID-19 have impeded efforts to deliver humanitarian aid. The U.N. World Food Programme, for example, has warned that COVID-19-related restrictions may soon put a stop to its operations there as most international aid workers have been forced to leave the country.
How can North Korea deal with these problems? The first step would be the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines that would inoculate enough of the population to allow an easing of border and travel restrictions and allow humanitarian aid to flow once again into the country.
The good news is that North Korea is scheduled to receive 1.7 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the World Health Organization's COVAX program. This is likely to be supplemented by supplies of the Sputnik V vaccine from Russia and the Sinopharm vaccine from China.
All three vaccines have one advantage over the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines popular in the West because they can be stored at standard refrigeration temperatures. Thanks to efforts by the WHO a decade ago, North Korea has the proper cold chain system in place to distribute these vaccines around the country. It still lacks the more advanced cold storage facilities necessary for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which require ultra-cold temperatures for storage.
The spearheading of the vaccine program by the WHO also means that the U.N. Sanctions Committee will likely quickly approve exemptions for the delivery of syringes, which are subject to the sanctions on North Korea along with other metal-based medical equipment.
Vaccine distribution still faces another problem. Unstable electricity supplies mean that cold chain systems can fail in some cases. One solution would be the supply of cold-chain refrigeration powered by solar energy. This has proved useful in underdeveloped countries such as those in Africa. But the international sanctions on North Korea prevent the import of solar panels into the country. The U.N. Sanctions Committee should allow their availability along with transportation storage boxes and vehicles, which are also subject to sanctions, to carry the vaccines to remote regions.
The impact of COVID-19 on North Korea should result in a broader reprisal of international sanctions to allow the delivery of more humanitarian and food assistance.
Reflecting his concerns over looming food shortages, Tomas Ojea Quintera, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in North Korea, for example, urged the U.N. Security Council last June "to reconsider sanctions, in light of the impact on the livelihood of people and the government's capacity to respond."
He added, however, that North Korea needed to lift COVID-19 restrictions that prevented the presence of representatives from international humanitarian organizations to supervise the distribution of food aid. The provision of vaccines will help achieve this goal.
The Biden administration has also offered humanitarian aid to North Korea, although it must meet a congressional requirement that independent monitors should be in place to oversee its delivery to those most in need.
The international community appears ready to help North Korea. The U.N. Sanctions Committee gave swift exemptions last year to proposed aid shipments, although their delivery has been delayed due to North Korea's COVID-19 border closures.
The possibility that North Korea is willing to reopen its borders to humanitarian aid should also encourage countries to contribute to U.N. aid programs for North Korea. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported recently that only $1.3 billion has been pledged as humanitarian assistance, mostly for food programs, to North Korea this year, a decline of 83 percent from a year ago.
The supply of vaccines to North Korea cannot come soon enough.
John Burton (johnburtonft@yahoo.com), a former Korea correspondent for the Financial Times, is a Washington, D.C.-based journalist and consultant.
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North Korea was one of the first countries in the world to go into self-quarantine against COVID-19 when it closed its borders in January 2020 and imposed travel restrictions within the country. Trade with China, North Korea's biggest trading partner, fell by 80 percent last year, including rice supplies and other food imports. Pyongyang believed that such strict controls were necessary since the spread of COVID-19 would overwhelm its fragile healthcare system.
Meanwhile, several severe typhoons last summer flooded farmland, reducing crop output. This has exacerbated persistent food shortages. The U.S. and the U.N. have estimated that at least 40 percent of the population is malnourished.
As a result, North Korea's already dire humanitarian situation has grown even worse. Pyongyang's stringent measures against COVID-19 have impeded efforts to deliver humanitarian aid. The U.N. World Food Programme, for example, has warned that COVID-19-related restrictions may soon put a stop to its operations there as most international aid workers have been forced to leave the country.
How can North Korea deal with these problems? The first step would be the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines that would inoculate enough of the population to allow an easing of border and travel restrictions and allow humanitarian aid to flow once again into the country.
The good news is that North Korea is scheduled to receive 1.7 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the World Health Organization's COVAX program. This is likely to be supplemented by supplies of the Sputnik V vaccine from Russia and the Sinopharm vaccine from China.
All three vaccines have one advantage over the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines popular in the West because they can be stored at standard refrigeration temperatures. Thanks to efforts by the WHO a decade ago, North Korea has the proper cold chain system in place to distribute these vaccines around the country. It still lacks the more advanced cold storage facilities necessary for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which require ultra-cold temperatures for storage.
The spearheading of the vaccine program by the WHO also means that the U.N. Sanctions Committee will likely quickly approve exemptions for the delivery of syringes, which are subject to the sanctions on North Korea along with other metal-based medical equipment.
Vaccine distribution still faces another problem. Unstable electricity supplies mean that cold chain systems can fail in some cases. One solution would be the supply of cold-chain refrigeration powered by solar energy. This has proved useful in underdeveloped countries such as those in Africa. But the international sanctions on North Korea prevent the import of solar panels into the country. The U.N. Sanctions Committee should allow their availability along with transportation storage boxes and vehicles, which are also subject to sanctions, to carry the vaccines to remote regions.
The impact of COVID-19 on North Korea should result in a broader reprisal of international sanctions to allow the delivery of more humanitarian and food assistance.
Reflecting his concerns over looming food shortages, Tomas Ojea Quintera, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in North Korea, for example, urged the U.N. Security Council last June "to reconsider sanctions, in light of the impact on the livelihood of people and the government's capacity to respond."
He added, however, that North Korea needed to lift COVID-19 restrictions that prevented the presence of representatives from international humanitarian organizations to supervise the distribution of food aid. The provision of vaccines will help achieve this goal.
The Biden administration has also offered humanitarian aid to North Korea, although it must meet a congressional requirement that independent monitors should be in place to oversee its delivery to those most in need.
The international community appears ready to help North Korea. The U.N. Sanctions Committee gave swift exemptions last year to proposed aid shipments, although their delivery has been delayed due to North Korea's COVID-19 border closures.
The possibility that North Korea is willing to reopen its borders to humanitarian aid should also encourage countries to contribute to U.N. aid programs for North Korea. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported recently that only $1.3 billion has been pledged as humanitarian assistance, mostly for food programs, to North Korea this year, a decline of 83 percent from a year ago.
The supply of vaccines to North Korea cannot come soon enough.
John Burton (johnburtonft@yahoo.com), a former Korea correspondent for the Financial Times, is a Washington, D.C.-based journalist and consultant.
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