NEWS BRIEF

[Anchor Lead]

The government will send a special flight to Iraq to bring home Korean workers there where COVID-19 is spreading fast. Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said that over 2,000 new cases are being reported in Iraq each day and stressed it is a country's basic duty to protect the health and safety of its citizens who are exposed to the threat of an infectious disease while working overseas for national interest away from family.
The government will kickstart job projects this month aimed at alleviating the employment shock caused by the COVID-19 fallout. Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom said the government was preparing for the creation of an additional 575-thousand jobs in the public sector and for young people, following the third supplementary budget passed in parliament. He said that related agencies will conduct checks later in the year to inspect implementation and progress of the projects.
The British government has for the 5th consecutive year named North Korea as a human rights priority country. In its annual Human Rights and Democracy Report, the UK Foreign Office designated 30 countries including North Korea in this category. The report said there was no improvement in the dire human rights situation in the North in 2019 and the regime continued to exert control over nearly every aspect of citizens’ lives.