CORONAVIRUS PUTS N. KOREA ON ALERT

[Anchor Lead]

As a new strain of coronavirus appears to be spreading beyond the Chinese borders, the neighboring North Korea has also been put on alert. North Korean authorities are making great efforts to stop the spread of the deadly virus and have temporarily banned foreign tourists from entering the country.

[Pkg]

[Soundbite] (KOREAN CENTRAL TV) : "A new deadly virus that originated from China is causing great damage as it is rapidly spreading to several Asian countries and other regions."

North Korean TV has been airing this news every day since Tuesday. Authorities have designated virus control as a national task as a new strain of coronavirus is spreading to other parts of the world.

[Soundbite] KANG CHOL-JIN(MINISTRY OF HEALTH) : "We are strengthening hygiene measures and making efforts to stop the virus. It is a national task."

Various measures were put in place yesterday. They include temporarily banning foreign tourists from entering the regime. There's a clear sense of desperation given that the North has recently been promoting its tourism industry under the order of leader Kim Jong-un. As such, authorities are taking this situation very seriously. The reclusive state's poor disease prevention system is the reason the regime is going all-out to stop the virus from entering the hermit kingdom. The virus will likely cause extensive damage, due to lack of effective medication and as many of its people are malnourished.

[Soundbite] KIM SHIN-GON(ASSOCIATION OF HEALTHCARE FOR KOREAN UNIFICATION) : "Since North Korea's public healthcare infrastructure and systems are not functioning properly, the situation will become uncontrollable once the new virus spreads there."

However, North Korea has not disclosed whether any local resident has been infected by the deadly disease.