Latest in a mass exodus of foreigners amid strict COVID-19 lockdowns, the last remaining foreign staff of the ICRC or the International Committee of the Red Cross have left North Korea, according to the humanitarian organization on Thursday.
Despite the report of North Korea with zero confirmed cases of COVID-19, the government has imposed stifling measures that in many cases go beyond the controls already in place in the economically and politically isolated country.
According to Reuters, the Deputy head of delegation for East Asia of ICRC, Graziella Leite Piccoli, shared in a statement that the International ICRC staff left Pyongyang on Wednesday and the ongoing work of the organization will be managed by its delegation in Beijing.
She also mentioned that the staff had completed their DPRK assignments, which are the initials of North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Piccoli also shared that they will be going to their home countries to reunite with their families.
The Deputy head of delegation for East Asia of ICRC shared that the ICRC office remained open with minimal activities given the current anti-coronavirus measures.
The ICRC staff is only a few among around 40 foreigners who left Pyongyang this week, which also includes a staff of several embassies and other aid organizations based on the report of NK News, a news website that monitors North Korea.
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The CEO of NK News, Chad O'Carroll, shared that the latest departure suggests that foreign humanitarian workers only have a skeletal presence in North Korea.
The Hermit State has suspended almost all of its international flights, cross-border train, and road traffic, with residents living near the border warned that the guards would shoot anyone who will try to cross.
Foreign residents shared that imported goods have often become scarce in the capital as trade dwindles under the imposed restrictions by the Hermit State.
Most diplomats and ambassadors have left the country this year after enduring long weeks of lockdowns and could not return.
Based on the WHO or the World Health Organization data, as of November 25, North Korea was able to identify 8,594 individuals suspected of coronavirus. However, none of them tested positive.
NoKor Cuts Off Ties with China to Curb virus spread.
The Supreme Leader of the Hermit State Kim Jong Un, has kicked the pandemic prevention plan into overdrive, further tightening the nearly impassable borders, cut off the majority of trade with China, and even executed an official of the customs allegedly due to failure of properly handling imported goods.
The capital of China, Beijing, has exported just $253,000 worth of goods to Pyongyang in October. This is a drop of 99% from September to October based on the data published by the customs administration of China.
China is the biggest trading partner of North Korea as the Hermit state does not import significantly from anywhere else, CNN reported.
The move is considered extreme by some as North Korea is ready to risk its food and fuel supply.
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