North Korea's high status at WHO sends wrong message to world: health experts

Surrounded by officials face wearing masks, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, and his wife Lee Sol-ju watch a performance given by art groups in Pyongyang, in this May 5, 2021, photo. Speaking to The Korea Times recently, health experts said North Korea's high position at the World Health Organization is concerning as it would send the wrong message to the world. Yonhap

Pyongyang joins executive board despite pandemic lies, rejection of vaccine support

By Jung Min-ho

North Korea had claimed to be totally free of COVID-19 patients for almost a year and a half while the coronavirus was raging across the world. After finally reporting its first official case in May 2022, authorities there rejected free offers of vaccine support from other countries for no clear reason, refusing to join the global effort to contain the pandemic and jeopardizing the lives of their own people.

Yet, at the 76th World Health Assembly in Geneva last month, North Korea was elected as a new member of the World Health Organization (WHO) executive board. Along with 33 other "technically qualified" member countries, it will implement the decisions and policies of the U.N. agency over the next three years.

Health experts worry that the high status given to the authoritarian state that did everything wrong throughout the international health crisis would send the wrong message to the world ― that North Korea's actions were acceptable, not just this time but also with respect to its future acts.

Speaking to The Korea Times in an email interview, Hakim Djaballah, former chief of Institut Pasteur Korea and a virologist currently based in New York, said North Korea's pandemic management was a "complete failure" and all of its claims about COVID-19, especially the infection-free part, was "sadly laughable and cannot be credible by any means."

"It was a complete failure with a human tragedy of an unknown magnitude for the (North's) 26 million citizens," Djaballah said. "We still do not know the extent of the COVID damage in North Korea and we may never know. It is one of the world's worst authoritarian and closed regimes, which has failed to accept support, vaccines and other needed medical supplies to help their own citizens."

A worker of North Korea's State Commission of Quality Management carries a disinfectant delivery device at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport in Pyongyang, in this Feb. 1, 2020, photo. AP-Yonhap

Just like many other poor countries, North Korea is not well-equipped to collect reliable data. But what separates the North from the rest is that it would not accept external help, even at the cost of millions of lives, if it was deemed unhelpful for the regime's image, said Choi Jung-hoon, who formerly practiced as an infectious disease doctor in North Korea.

"During the COVID-19 pandemic, North Korea showed exactly what a government should never do during a pandemic. Giving it an executive board member position and allowing it to tell the world what to do is nonsensical, to say the very least," Choi said.

"As it had always been, North Korea tried everything it could to protect only a handful of its leaders and their image during this pandemic, leaving all the ordinary people basically on their own. To me, it was, sadly, all predictable, given what I had personally experienced there."

Following the news about North Korea's upgraded status at the WHO, the United States and South Korea expressed concerns that the belligerent state with a terrible record of violating human rights and other U.N. rules would abide by international norms while serving the role.

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, wearing a mask, attends a press conference at the WHO headquarters in Geneva in this Dec. 20, 2021, photo. AFP-Yonhap

'Blame WHO for allowing this to happen'

Since the early phases of the pandemic, the WHO under Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has been criticized for its incompetent handling of the crisis. Where and how COVID-19 originated ― a critical component of information the organization failed to acquire with convincing evidence ― is still a source of discussion and conspiracy theories among not just the general public in online forums but also serious scientists and government officials.

North Korea's entry into the WHO's decision-making body is just another addition to its long list of failures and is expected to further mar its reputation, Djaballah said.

"The message (of North Korea's new status at the WHO) would be first reflective on all the failures and incompetence of the WHO itself allowing this situation to occur electing North Korea to this global public health strategic role," Djaballah said.

"Unfortunately, North Korea is not to blame here; as a member state, it was its right to secure a seat at the executive board and they were successful, so this cannot be that surprising to anyone, especially if one compares it to the recent re-election of the WHO director-general to a second term without any challenger in sight, and combined with a poor performance in his first term (during) this global pandemic."

The infectious disease expert said there should be a set of minimum criteria for any member state to serve on the WHO executive board.

Under the current rules, however, any member country can nominate themselves and subsequently get elected. "Something must change to avoid such inconveniences, especially with regards to the definition of being technically qualified in the field of health, as a simple medical doctor or an epidemiologist can qualify," he said.

Both Djaballah and Choi agreed that there has been a steep decline in recent years in the confidence level of the WHO, which bounced from scandal to scandal after Margaret Chan, Ghebreyesus' predecessor, took the leadership position in 2006. They called for a reform of the body that still operates under the same rules and regulations since its founding in 1948.

"Perhaps this organization has run its course and it is time to have a new international and U.N.-independent agency take over this critical role to safeguard mankind and humanity as we know it," Djaballah said.

The WHO did not respond to The Korea Times' inquiry regarding the criteria for its executive board membership and the process of selecting its members.