Samjiyon and Hyesan locked down after woman crosses border
North Korea has completely locked down the cities of Samjiyon and Hyesan in Yanggang Province after a North Korean woman who had been living in China crossed over the border into Samjiyon.
An order by the Central Committee’s Politburo was handed down to provincial and municipal party organizations. The recent lockdown order specifically mentioned the “illegal border crossing” into Samjiyon and stated that the authorities would maintain a “top-class national emergency anti-epidemic system” along with “a strong lock down” until separate orders to lift the lock down have been given.
The order also requested local authorities in the cities to put in place a “special guidance management implementation system” to take care of local citizens, and to make daily reports detailing “internal situations” in the cities to the Central Committee and Central Anti-epidemic Command until the lock downs are lifted.
The lockdown order has prohibited all the people in Samjiyon and Hyesan from traveling and the movement of goods has also been halted. Some residents in Yanggang Province involved in blueberry and pine nut harvesting are reportedly complaining that the lockdown order is making it difficult to continue their livelihoods.
[Source: Daily NK]
