Representative Image/Credit: ReutersSEOUL: North Korea said Friday that hundreds of families have fallen ill with an unidentified intestinal disease, heaping pressure on a crumbling healthcare system already strained by Covid-19. In a possible sign of the seriousness of the situation, Kim Yo Jong , Kim Jong Un's powerful sister, was one of a group of senior officials who reportedly personally donated medicine to try and help. The medicine will be delivered to "over 800 families suffering from the acute epidemic which broke out in some areas of South Hwanghae Province," state media KCNA reported Friday. If confirmed the outbreak could worsen the country's chronic food shortages, as South Hwanghae province is one of the North's main agricultural regions. South Korea previously offered to send vaccines and other medical aid to the North to help it deal with its coronavirus outbreak.

Source: The North Africa Journal June 17, 2022 18:12 UTC