Measures of the Republic of Korea and the DPRK to combat COVID-19 as a component of the national and regional security. V.Yu. MISHIN

Abstract

Measures of the Republic of Korea and the DPRK to combat COVID-19 as a component of the national and regional security. V.Yu. MISHIN (Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnology of the Peoples of the Far East, FEB RAS, Vladivostok).

The article presents an analysis of the measures taken by the states of the Korean Peninsula to localize coronavirus infection in the initial and most active period of its spread. It has been established that the top leadership and society of the North and South of Korea differently perceived the threats and consequences of the pandemia. At the same time, the close location of the two states and the threat of a national catastrophe united the South and North Korea in understanding the need to take political and health measures to prevent the penetration of COVID-19 both from the outside and across the common state border. The two states have different levels of socio-economic development and different political systems. Respectively, the definite and the preventive measures were taken based on the financial and technological characteristics of the two Koreas. Author concluded that general measures to combat COVID-19 were an integral part of ensuring national and regional security on the Korean Peninsula. The common threat of a pandemic is not a condition for reconciliation between the two warring states, but it can initiate the improvement of inter-Korean relations in the medium term.