from weta studios in Washington
and in the west from the Walter
Cronkite school of journalism at
Arizona state university.
Judy: This afternoon the U.S.
Confirmed North Korea tested
intercontinental listed missile
earlier this week.
That announcement was made in
the security council where China
and Russia vetoed a resolution
that would have imposed new
sanctions on North Korea.
All of this coincides with the
country's first admitted
outbreak of covid-19.
Nick schifrin has the story.
>> The provisional agenda for
this meeting is
nonproliferation.
Nick: In New York today, a
failed attempt to further
isolate North Korea.
>> We cannot let this become the
new norm.
We cannot tolerate such
dangerous and threatening
behavior.
Nick: The security council
ejected a u.s.-let resolution to
sanction North Korea and deliver
humanitarian aid because of
Russian and Chinese vetoes.
Through a translator, the
Chinese ambassador said
sanctions would honor the people
of North Korea, whose official
acronym is dprk.
>> Neither right nor humane.
Nick: The vote was response to
North Korea testing three
missiles on Tuesday including
what the U.S. Said was the sixth
launched just this year.
Their response was not only
diplomatic.
Hours after the north Korean
test, South Korea and the U.S.
Launched a range missiles and
displayed dozens of
american-made fighter jets.
Already this year the U.S. Says
North Korea has conducted 23
ballistic missile launches and
is trying to build an arsenal
that can survive a U.S. Attack.
>> We have seen hypersonic
missiles, we have seen
submarine-launched missiles.
So really, making and creating
missiles that are harder to
detect.
Nick: Senior fellow at the
Wilson center and a former
journalist based in Pyongyang
says the test timing is no
mistake.
>> We committed to strengthening
our close engagement.
Nick: Immediately after
president Biden's first Asia
trip and a synchronized message
from the south Korean president
to North Korea.
>> President Biden and I shared
serious concerns and agree on
the need to prioritize them over
any other issue.
>> It is hard not to see this as
a kind of rebuke or response to
that show of strength.
Interesting it was not timed to
take place during the visit, but
just after.
Nick: What is the significance
of waiting, I suppose, until
Biden left?
>> Perhaps there is a little bit
of a signal there that he wants
to raise tension.
But I think he does eventually
want to get back to
negotiations.
Nick: Four years after north
Korea's less nuclear test, U.S.
Officials are worrying they are
excavating tunnels at their
nuclear testing site to prepare
another test.
>> The developments and
advancements every test makes in
terms of nuclear devices, they
get more and more powerful each
time.
Each of these tests has been
closer to perfecting this
technology, refining this
technology.
Nick: But North Korea now faces
a different test in the military
and new mobilization.
Last week medics help to treat
what they called fevers.
Health workers visit residents
suspected to be sick.
The equivalent of Dr. Fauci
gives daily updates.
>> We are aggressively
broadcasting informative
programs as residents want to
know about this epidemic disease
clinical course and medicine
treatment.
Nick: Those programs tell
citizens to make gargles with
salt, drink herbal tea, and take
painkillers.
And they promote homemade cures.
>> I disinfected the room with
alcohol, and circulated air.
I think it can be treated like a
regular cold.
John: Cove it is now openly
discussed because Kim Jong-un
himself declared a national
emergency.
North Korean officials say more
than 2.5 million, 10% of the
population, got sick.
>> It is a major outbreak and it
is nationwide, in every
province.
Nick: A neurosurgeon who has
been training north Korean
doctors for more than a decade
since the country's
infrastructure is ill-prepared.
>> I am concerned about the
capacity of the north Korean
health system to absorb the
surge of patients.
There are just a handful of
ventilators.
I worry about oxygen, then basic
medical needs like drugs, IV
fluids.
Nick: North Korea had shut down
its borders and until recently,
claimed zero covid cases.
But the country partially
reopened this past January and
increased trade with China.
This week, officials said cases
were dropping, but their
population is vulnerable.
40% are under nourished and
nobody is known to be
vaccinated.
>> You have the virus ripping
through the country and a
population unprepared, in two
ways.
One if you have a vulnerable
population that is under
nourished.
On top of that you have zero
vaccination and no inherent
immunity.
Nick: So far North Korea has
rejected all offers of vaccines,
including from the U.S. And U.N.
But admitting a crisis might
mean North Korea is open to
getting health.
>> To cement his legacy, it
would be a different focus for
Kim Jong-un, and he would start
looking at foreign policy.
I think that also means looking
for a way to signal to the
outside world that he is ready
to start engaging, that he is
ready to start reaching out.
Nick: What North Korea is
perhaps not ready for, fighting
a virus it is only now admitted
it cannot control.
For the pbs newshour, I am Nick