N.KOREA TIGHTENS MEASURES OVER COVID-19

[Anchor Lead]

North Korean border towns are growing tense as COVID-19 spreads fast across the country. The regime has locked down the country, toughening the surveillance along the North Korean-Chinese border entry points and banning civilians from venturing outside.

[Pkg]

Onsong-gun, Hamgyeongbuk-do Province in North Korea borders on the Kaishantun Customs Office in China’s Longjing City across the Tumen River. North Korean soldiers wearing black masks are walking along the railroad. Dozens of soldiers in masks are being briefed near a military barracks. North Korea has toughened border surveillance after issuing a nationwide lockdown on May 12th. Civilians are nowhere to be seen. Only railway employees working on the tracks are visible. The same goes for the nearby town of Namyang.

[Soundbite] (Border town Resident) : "They started wearing masks a few days ago. I think it’s because of COVID-19."

The city of Sinuiju across the Amnokgang River from Dandong in China seems empty and eerily quiet. It is hard to spot a single person along the river or a vehicle on the road.

[Soundbite] (N. Korean Source) : "I haven’t heard of anyone dying in Sinuiju. Judging from the news that the disease has spread in the country, I think the cases are concentrated in Pyongyang."

A North Korean source suspects the recent spread of COVID-19 in the country is largely blamed on the freight train services with China that resumed in January. Chinese authorities have completely locked down cities adjacent to the North Korean border. These include Dandong in Liaoning Province, Hunchun in Jilin Province and the Tumen area.