April 01, 2021 - 1:31 PM
MOSCOW — Russia’s embassy in North Korea says the country is suffering severe shortages of medicines and necessary goods amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite claiming to be coronavirus free, North Korea has sealed off its borders as part of stringent anti-pandemic measures that also involved the departure of diplomats and foreign nationals.
In March, the last two international U.N. staffers, both with the World Food Program, reportedly left the country.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, the Russian embassy said that 38 foreign nationals who left North Korea on March 18 ended their two-week quarantine in the Chinese border city of Dandong and said the “exodus” of foreigners will continue.
“Those leaving the Korean capital can be understood — not everyone can withstand total restrictions unprecedented in their severity, an acute shortage of necessary goods, including medicines, and the inability to solve health problems,” the post said.
It said fewer than 290 foreigners remain in Pyongyang.
News from © The Associated Press, 2021