World No Closer to Answer on COVID Origins Despite WHO Probe - Expert

A logo is pictured on the headquarters of the World Health Orgnaization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, June 25, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
A logo is pictured on the headquarters of the World Health Orgnaization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, June 25, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
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World No Closer to Answer on COVID Origins Despite WHO Probe - Expert

A logo is pictured on the headquarters of the World Health Orgnaization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, June 25, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
A logo is pictured on the headquarters of the World Health Orgnaization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, June 25, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

Despite a high-profile visit to China by a team of international experts in January, the world is no closer to knowing the origins of COVID-19, according to one of the authors of an open letter calling for a new investigation into the pandemic.

"At this point we are no further advanced than we were a year ago," said Nikolai Petrovsky, an expert in vaccines at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, and one of 26 global experts who signed the open letter, published on Thursday.

In January, a team of scientists picked by the World Health Organization (WHO) visited hospitals and research institutes in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the coronavirus was identified, in search of clues about the origins of COVID-19.

But the mission has come under fire, with critics accusing the WHO of relying too much on politically compromised Chinese fieldwork and data.

Team members also said China was reluctant to share vital data that could show COVID-19 was circulating months earlier than first recognized.

The open letter said the WHO mission "did not have the mandate, the independence, or the necessary accesses to carry out a full and unrestricted investigation" into all theories about the origins of COVID-19.

"All possibilities remain on the table and I have yet to see a single piece of independent scientific data that rules out any of them," said Petrovsky.

At a press briefing to mark the end of the WHO visit to Wuhan, mission head Peter Ben Embarek appeared to rule out the possibility that the virus leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan.

But Petrovsky said it "doesn't make any sense" to rule any possibility out, and said the aim of the open letter was "to get an acknowledgement globally that no one has yet identified the source of the virus and we need to keep searching."

"We need an open mind and if we close down some avenues because they are considered too sensitive, that is not how science operates," he said.



US Designated South Korea a 'Sensitive' Country amid Nuclear Concerns

A supporter of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol holds photos during a rally to oppose his impeachment in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, March 15, 2025. The letters read "Dismiss impeachment." (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A supporter of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol holds photos during a rally to oppose his impeachment in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, March 15, 2025. The letters read "Dismiss impeachment." (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
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US Designated South Korea a 'Sensitive' Country amid Nuclear Concerns

A supporter of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol holds photos during a rally to oppose his impeachment in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, March 15, 2025. The letters read "Dismiss impeachment." (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A supporter of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol holds photos during a rally to oppose his impeachment in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, March 15, 2025. The letters read "Dismiss impeachment." (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

The US Department of Energy has designated ally South Korea a "sensitive" country, a spokesperson said on Friday, after the South Korean president briefly imposed martial law and amid talk of Seoul potentially developing nuclear weapons.
The administration of then-President Joe Biden put South Korea on the lowest tier of the Sensitive and Other Designated Countries List in January shortly before Biden left office, the DOE said in a written response to Reuters queries.
The department did not explain why the Asian nation was added to the list and did not indicate that President Donald Trump was inclined to reverse the measure. The spokesperson said Seoul faces no new restrictions on bilateral cooperation in science and technology.
The designation will go into effect on April 15, media reports said, according to Reuters.
South Korea's foreign ministry said the government was taking the matter seriously and in close communication with Washington.
"We will actively negotiate to ensure that there is no negative impact on energy, science and technology cooperation between South Korea and the United States," the ministry said in a statement.
The DOE list of sensitive countries includes China, Taiwan, Israel, Russia, Iran and North Korea, with Tehran and Pyongyang designated as "terrorist", according to a 2017 document posted on the department's website.
President Yoon Suk Yeol and then-Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun are among officials who raised the prospect that Seoul would be forced to pursue nuclear weapons amid fears over Pyongyang's weapons program and concerns about the US alliance.
Yoon and Kim have been indicted on charges of insurrection over Yoon's six-hour declaration of martial law in December. Yoon was impeached and his presidential powers suspended while a court decides whether to remove him from office.
Yoon backed off rhetoric about a nuclear weapons program after negotiating with Biden a 2023 agreement under which Washington is to give Seoul more insight into US planning to deter and respond to a nuclear incident in the region. In return, Seoul renewed a pledge not to pursue a nuclear bomb of its own and said it would abide by the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, which it has signed.
That, however, has not been enough to ease doubts over US defense commitments that have fueled calls for a South Korean nuclear arsenal.
Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul said last month that nuclear weapons were not "off the table", though it was premature to talk about such a plan.
"Given that international situations are developing in unpredictable directions, this is a principled response that we must prepare for all possible scenarios," Cho told a parliamentary hearing.
Daryl Kimball, executive director of the nonprofit Arms Control Association, said that in light of such "provocative" statements, South Korea is a proliferation risk and the DOE was prudent to put the country on its list.
"Listing the ROK as a proliferation-sensitive country should rule out any chance of a South Korean request for US approval to enrich uranium and reprocessing spent fuel... to produce nuclear weapons," Kimball said, citing the country's formal name, the Republic of Korea.
The handling of the designation raised concerns in Seoul. Cho told parliament on Tuesday that his ministry had had no formal communication from the Biden administration and only heard about the possible designation from an informal tip-off.
Countries may appear on the Energy Department's list for reasons of national security, nuclear nonproliferation or support for terrorism, though inclusion does not necessarily indicate an adversarial relationship with the United States.
"Currently there are no new restrictions on bilateral science and technology cooperation with the ROK," the DOE said. "The Energy Department looks forward to collaborating with the ROK to advance our mutual interests."
Though the designation does not prohibit scientific or technical cooperation, visits to the listed countries and cooperation undergo an internal review beforehand, the department said.