The WHO Welcomes North Korea Kim Jong Un gets a seat on the executive board. Trump approves.
The World Health Organization had a bad pandemic, bowing far too much to Chinese influence and making it harder to discover the origin of Covid-19. The WHO added to that embarrassment recently when the World Health Assembly voted to allow North Korea to serve on the WHO executive board.
Yes, that’s the government in Pyongyang known for its network of camps where political prisoners starve to death. On the executive board, Pyongyang will have a say in setting and enforcing international norms about global health—which it will no doubt flout if WHO ever dared apply them to North Korea.
The farce continued when Donald Trump congratulated North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un on his social media platform, Truth Social. “Congratulations to Kim Jung Un!” [sic] wrote the former President. Keep in mind Mr. Trump withdrew the U.S. from the WHO after its Covid blunders, only to have President Biden rejoin.
Mr. Trump’s comments didn’t sit well with his rivals for the 2024 Republican nomination. “No one should be praising the dictator in North Korea or praising the leader of Russia who has launched an unprovoked war of aggression in Ukraine,” former Vice President Mike Pence told Fox News. Nikki Haley, Mr. Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, said “you don’t congratulate a thug.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said “we need to be getting out of WHO” rather than “congratulating” Kim for being involved in the WHO.
Meanwhile, WHO denied Taiwan even observer status to the World Health Assembly, and singled out Israel for condemnation over claims it violated the health rights of its Palestinian and Druze populations. Kim Jong Un will fit right in.
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