North Korean state media coverage during the last week focused on skyrocketing COVID-19 case numbers in South Korea and China. Three years into the pandemic, North Korea is not known to have administered a single vaccine in the country and maintains rigid border controls to keep COVID out of the country.

State media also devoted coverage to Mount Kumgang near the inter-Korean border and reminded audiences of the mountain’s role in inter-Korean cooperation, and North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the European Union for criticizing its human rights record.

Meanwhile, North Korean