Vice Minister's Briefing
Since there were a few symptoms of a possible outbreak of bird influenza in North Korea, the South Korean government has considered the North as a suspected area hit by the epidemic, and taken preventative measures against the bird flu starting March 11, this year.
For instance, our government requested a South Korean company not to import North Korean chickens amounting to 40 tons which were originally scheduled to bring in South Korea on March 11. Starting March 12, we also made other anti-epidemic activities such as distribution of instructions on how to avoid coming down with the flu, thermal detection on people visiting the North, and disinfection of floor of vehicles at immigration and quarantine offices in Gyeoung-eui Line and Dong-hae Line.
In addition, we have stepped up quarantine efforts on ships and vehicles going in and out of North Korea. As a result, so far there has been no case of an outbreak of the influenza in South Korea.
As the North officially acknowledged the outbreak of the avian flu via its media outlet, our government held a meeting with officials from relevant government agencies this afternoon, in which we decided to put our priority on preventing the bird flu from spreading over to South Korea, and make diplomatic efforts with the international community to combat the flu in North Korea.
First, considering the adjacency of the contaminated region to our country, we will strengthen our quarantine efforts to keep the bird flu from crossing the border. As part of that effort, our government will establish a task force team consisting of workers from relevant organizations in charge of quarantine.
Second, we will request North Korea to provide information on the scale of damage and their quarantine efforts, and at the same time make a request to take necessary steps to curb the spread of the epidemic to South Korea.
In addition, our government will actively provide assistance such as medical supply, equipment and technical tips to the North in order to avert further spread of the bird flu, if Pyeongyang requests our help.
Third, we acknowledged the need for international cooperation in order to curb the avian flu in its initial stage and prevent it from spreading to overseas.
To this end, we will make diplomatic efforts with concerned nations and international organizations including the World Health Organization.
Now, I would like to wrap up my briefing on what we discussed during the meeting with officials from relevant government agencies.
