On May 12th, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un acknowledged the country’s first case of COVID-19 during the meeting. He was wearing a face mask and announced the nationwide lockdown. Until this day, North Korea has been claiming that there were no COVID cases in North Korea and thus has been rejecting any kinds of aid from the outside. However, experts are highly in doubt of this claim because North Korea touches its border with China, and considering that they constantly interact with China, it is impossible for them to completely block the virus from the nation. 

Then, why now? Why has Kim Jong Un finally admitted the existing virus within the nation and is accepting foreign support? There are two most possible hypotheses. First, it might be Kim Jong Un’s attempt to reconstruct the communication with the outside world after nearly insulating the country for two years to prevent the virus from permeating into the country. Second, they might be at the point where it is impossible to handle the pandemic on its own after two years of neglect. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/61508440

Furthermore, experts say the COVID outbreak that has been announced recently cannot be trusted either; it is not a matter of when it was announced, but it is a matter of if it is an actual COVID-19 virus. This doubt derives from the fact that North Korea has never reported official COVID cases to the World Health Organization and they do not have enough COVID tests to confirm the cases. Now that they have opened up, they have recently sent three planes to receive medical supplies from Shenyang, China. Especially since North Korea had firmly kept silent regarding COVID for the past two years, it is significant to monitor their further announcements and actions.  

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