SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – On Wednesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivered a speech in which he "solemnly declared a victory" over COVID-19, saying his nation had eradicated the virus, according to state media.
North Korean media outlets have continuously put out state propaganda that the country has reported zero cases of the "fever," the phrase the nation uses for COVID-19.
Many are skeptical of the report being that the nation is said to have limited COVID-19 testing capacity as it has one of the poorest healthcare infrastructures in the world.
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The Washington Post has reported that their hospitals are so poorly equipped that they barely have reliable electricity. The country is also one of two without coronavirus vaccine programs.
Nonetheless, this hasn't stopped the dictator from boasting about his nation's success in ending the virus's reign, for which he takes full credit. Kim also reportedly had his own fight when he fell "seriously ill with high fever."
The extent of the infection that Kim fought is unknown, but his sister Kim Yo Jong spoke about it during a recent speech.
"He could not lie down for a moment thinking about the people he had to take care of until the end in the face of the anti-epidemic war," she said.
Some experts have questioned whether or not this was propaganda as well, to make the leader seem more relatable with his people, the Post reported.
North Korea has reported more than 4.7 million cases of "fever" symptoms since May, and at its peak, more than 750,000 cases were reported in one day.
However, North Korea also claims that it has had only 74 patients die from the virus, which is only 0.002% of those infected and an even smaller percentage of the nation's population, 25 million. The statistic, if accurate, makes it the lowest fatality rate in the world.
Experts say that the numbers reported from the nation can not be independently verified since the country has sealed its borders since the start of the pandemic.
Shin Young-jeon, a professor of preventive medicine at Hanyang University in Seoul, shared with the Post that it could be possible the nation has peaked in virus cases, but its "coronavirus fatality figure of 74 is nonsensically low."
North Korean leaders have also started to blame South Korea for the virus transmitting to the country. Kim Yo Jong reported that her nation would retaliate against the south for spreading the virus.
"If the enemy persists in such dangerous deeds as fomenting the inroads of virus into our Republic, we will respond to it by not only exterminating the virus but also wiping out the South Korean authorities," she said, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
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