guidelines dont make a sense at all its like the government is asking people to contact doctors only if they have breathing difficulties which means just before they die said former north korean agriculture official cho chung hui who fled to south korea in 2011 my heart aches when i think about my brother and sister in north korea and their sufferingkang who runs a company analysing the north korean economy said her contacts in hyesan told her that north korean residents are being asked to thoroughly read rodong sinmuns reports on how the country is working to stem the outbreaksince may 12 north korea has banned travel between regions but it hasnt attempted to impose more severe lockdowns in imitation of china north koreas economy is fragile due to pandemic border closures and decades of mismanagement so the country has encouraged farming construction and other industrial activities be accelerated kang said people in hyesan still go to workthe office of the un high commissioner for human rights expressed worry this week about the consequences of north koreas quarantine measures saying isolation and traveling restrictions will have dire consequences for people already struggling to meet their basic needs including getting enough food to eatchildren lactating mothers older people the homeless and those living in more isolated rural and border areas are especially vulnerable the office said in a statementdefectors in south korea say they worry about their loved ones in north korea they also suspect covid19 had already spread to north korea even before its formal admission of the outbreakmy father and sibling are still in north korea and im worrying about them a lot because they werent inoculated and there arent many medicines there said kang nara who fled to south korea in late 2014 she said a sibling told her during recent phone calls that their grandmother died of pneumonia which she believes was caused by covid19 last septemberdefector choi songjuk said that when her farmer sister in north korea last called her in february she said that her daughter and many neighbors had been sick with coronaviruslike symptoms such as a high fever coughing and sore throat choi said her sister pays brokers to arrange phone calls but she hasnt called recently even though its around the time of year when she runs short of food and needs money transfers via a network of brokers choi said the disconnection is likely related to antivirus restrictions on movementsi feel so sad i must connect with her again because she must be without food and picking wild greens said choi who left north korea in 2015in recent years kim jong un has built some modern hospitals and improved medical systems but critics say its mostly for the countrys ruling elite and that the free socialist medical service is in shambles recent defectors say there are lots of domestically produced drugs at markets now but they have quality issues so people prefer south korean chinese and russian medicines but foreign