Only source in that article is a North Korean embassy in Russia and theres not even a fucking link to what theyre talking about lmao
didn't read the article, the headline poped up in my tl and I thought it was so fucking badasss
This is fake, or at least highly distorted. The DPRK government was warning that airborne particulates from the dust storm can cause health issues and are recommending that people stay inside, comparing it to the Covid quarantine procedures.
Their government is taking Covid very seriously (probably a little too seriously since there haven't been any reported cases in NK) so they are trying to talk about the "staunch quarantine front" as much as they can and impress on people how serious it is. As a result in articles about the dust storm, the first paragraph talks about the dust and how people should shelter inside like they are suppose to do if there is a Covid outbreak, then the remaining article will go into the usual Covid spiel at the end of a lot of NK Covid articles. Its a weird conflation of the two topics but nowhere does North Korean news say Covid is actually carried by the dust strom. But Western press pretends like North Korean News is saying just that, becuase they believe that North Korea is comically backwards and they don't have anyone who is even slightly versed on NK issues in their newsroom (let alone read Korean).
The full article from Rodong Sinmun is here, Korean Google translates into English fairly well: Link
To thoroughly prevent possible damage in connection with today's yellow dust expected to affect the entire region of our country, it is an ultra-fine task to keep the quarantine front. Yellow dust, which contains various harmful ingredients, directly acts on the respiratory tract of a person and has a very negative effect. The damage is more severe in the case of elderly people with weak immune function and infants. In particular, in light of the current situation that the new coronavirus infection continues to spread around the world and the data that malignant viruses can be transferred by air, etc., the necessity to deal with the yellow dust phenomenon consciously and to take thorough measures is becoming more prominent. All workers, workers, and residents must strictly observe the quarantine regulations and the order of action while firmly maintaining a more tense and mobilized posture than ever before with the greatest alertness, even for a single natural phenomenon, while the yellow dust phenomenon persists. Above all, it is important to refrain from outdoor activities and never go outside unnecessarily. Members who go out inevitably must follow the quarantine regulations, including wearing masks. In all units and homes, windows and doors should be thoroughly closed, specific measures should be taken to prevent dust from entering the interior, and after the yellow dust phenomenon disappears, cleaning and disinfection projects should be conducted intensively and intensively. We must focus our efforts on cleaning and disinfecting roads and public places. All workers, especially emergency quarantine agencies and workers in the quarantine sector, standing on the forefront of emergency quarantine, must clearly recognize the danger of invading malicious viruses within our precincts, and aggressively conduct operations and commands to thoroughly execute quarantine measures. do. All citizens should accept, awaken, and awaken the strict adherence to the established order of conduct and quarantine regulations as a vital issue directly connected to the destiny of oneself and one's family, the well-being of the people, and the security of the motherland. Let's do our best as a member of society and as a citizen in a responsible business that will thoroughly strengthen our barriers to quarantine by breaking away from the project to thoroughly prevent the influx of malicious viruses.
Reporter Jo Hyang-mi More From Rodong Sinmun (Kr)
I really don't know how you get "North Korea thinks dust storms carry coronavirus" from that. Or even think that is the most important part of the article...
Nuh-uh! They think KJU was born after Kim Jong Il slept with a unicorn!!!11!11
So the state telling people to wait out dust storms inside is bad now?
If they are using some sort of sinophobic lie to do so, then yeah. Of course it's not really clear that's what's happening. The only relevant part of the article is:
“As the new coronavirus infections continue to spread around the world, the need to deal with the yellow dust and take thorough measures has become more critical,” North Korea’s official party newspaper Rodong Sinmun said on Thursday.
Which doesn't clarify how the paper thinks the coronavirus and dust storm are linked. It definitely comes off weird since I can't come up with a good reason for this phrasing, but I sure wish the scmp article would give more context (you know they won't) or that I could read the Rodong Simun article (I don't know Korean not do I really care about this very much beyond leaving this comment).
It can be warmer or colder, and I'm not sure where things stand today tbh. But yeah, I would guess that they arent exactly fearmongering about the "China virus" the way Trump does. Not really sure what's going on here unless I can read a translated article (once again, don't care), but the scmp is not a source I would expect to be charitable to the DPRK
“People must pay attention to personal hygiene after returning from outside,” a news reader said. “Also, workers should avoid outdoor construction work even at reconstruction sites.”
On Thursday, the Russian embassy in North Korea wrote on Facebook that North Korea’s Foreign Ministry had ordered all visitors to the country and its staff to wait out the dust storm inside.
From the end of the article
I mean, as always it goes a bit beyond "good" and "bad", and you just need to acknowledge that they're an English language HK-based outlet, so they are going to be pretty liberal all in all. They aren't exactly a state department mouthpiece (unless someone has info on that), though they do toe the line more or less.
Am I doing a North Korea Bad if my assumption is that this is a cover story for some mistake that led to the start of an outbreak? I don’t see how dry air in direct sunlight for at least a good part of a day can be raised as a serious concern in good faith.
See the comment above, the source article is more about how the dust particles could damage your immune system and make you more susceptible to Covid. They mention that it's airborne, but not that it's coming from the dust storms, just that being outside during a storm could be a vector for the disease if you were in a crowded place. The focus seems to be more about containment of the virus and also dealing with the entire separate issue of dust storms.
