Radio Free Asia By Jieun Kim for RFA Korean 2022.06.21
Only the soldiers assigned to duties off-base have received COVID-19 vaccines.
With a shortage of vaccines in North Korea, the government is telling unvaccinated soldiers to rely on unproven folk remedies if they come down with coronavirus symptoms, sources in the country told RFA.
North Korea has been importing Chinese vaccines for use among the military and has held widely publicized vaccination campaigns involving soldiers. But not every member of the military has been fortunate enough to receive the so-called “potion of love” from the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un.
Instead, they have been told to turn to unproven folk remedies if they get sick.
“Fever continues to emerge among soldiers who could not be vaccinated due to a lack of vaccines,” a resident of South Hwanghae province, on the peninsula’s western coast, told RFA’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
“Military authorities are recommending folk remedies such as indoor disinfection using mugwort smoke and gargling with salt water,” she said.
According to the source, only soldiers working off base were vaccinated due to an insufficient amount of vaccine inventory imported from China.
More:
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/folk-remedies-06212022164508.html
