North Korea previously turned down South Korea's offer to provide quarantine support through the international Red Cross following reports that the regime was seeing a high number of "fever cases" earlier this year. 

The belated revelation came from Shin Hee-young, president of the South Korean Red Cross, during a parliamentary audit on Wednesday. Shin said his agency sent a letter to North Korea via the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, offering aid and supplies, at the height of reports of fever patients in the North.

Shin said the agency had sent a message to the North via the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, rather than sending it directly, as a cautionary measure to circumvent North Korea’s aversion to Seoul’s offers of humanitarian aid.

He said that Pyongyang responded by saying that it is managing the situation well and that Seoul need not be concerned.
 
The chairman added that the North has turned down the organization’s proposals related to reunions of separated families, including holding virtual meetings.
 
The North has also yet to respond to the South Korean government’s proposal to hold talks among government officials on COVID-19 response cooperation and addressing the issue of families separated by the Korean War.