Since early 2020, North Korea has maintained one of the strictest COVID-19 border control regimes on the planet — no one in, almost no one out. Trade, too, was largely limited as the country’s leadership did everything in its power to keep the DPRK COVID-free.
That strategy has failed. On May 12, North Korea acknowledged for the first time that COVID-19 – specifically the highly-contagious omicron variant – finally reached the North Korean people. DPRK state media has since reported over one million cases of “fever” and 50 deaths.
Since early 2020, North Korea has maintained one of the strictest COVID-19 border control regimes on the planet — no one in, almost no one out. Trade, too, was largely limited as the country’s leadership did everything in its power to keep the DPRK COVID-free.
That strategy has failed. On May 12, North Korea acknowledged for the first time that COVID-19 – specifically the highly-contagious omicron variant – finally reached the North Korean people. DPRK state media has since reported over one million cases of “fever” and 50 deaths.
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