N. Korea increases virus budget after partial border opening

By KIM TONG-HYUNG
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea plans to increase its government spending on pandemic measures by one-third this year to carry out leader Kim Jong Un’s calls for a more advanced virus response. The country’s rubber-stamp parliament passed the budget plans during a session that came weeks after the North tentatively restarted its railroad freight traffic with China following two years of extreme border closures and economic decay. An analyst in South Korea says the spending reflects North Korea’s plans to gradually expand trade and other exchanges with China. It also may adopt China’s approach of sealing certain regions to control virus outbreaks, instead of locking down its entire country.