Last month, NK News reported that North Korean authorities had declared a five-day lockdown in Pyongyang in response to “rising” cases of respiratory illness, and the Russian Embassy soon corroborated the imposition of emergency quarantine measures.

Official DPRK outlets never directly mentioned the lockdown affecting millions in the capital. But as it turns out, state media may have unintentionally confirmed the virus controls regardless.

NK Pro analysis of Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) output around the Jan. 25-30 lockdown reveals a significant reduction in the number of photographs that the outlet published once virus controls