A joint study highlights how North Korea dramatically understated Covid-19 fatalities, leaving citizens without essential health care as the pandemic spread unchecked.
North Korea’s Covid-19 Claims Unveiled: A Fabricated ‘Miracle’ Exposed
North Korea’s Covid-19 Claims Unveiled: A Fabricated ‘Miracle’ Exposed
A recent report exposes North Korea's misleading narrative on its Covid-19 response, revealing disastrous public health flaws and rampant human suffering.
North Korea has touted its response to the Covid-19 pandemic as a miraculous achievement, claiming only 74 lives lost and asserting that it defeated the virus without any vaccinations. However, a troubling report released on Tuesday from the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies and the George W. Bush Institute contradicts this narrative, alleging that the North Korean government significantly downplayed the outbreaks and deaths, depriving citizens of critical healthcare assistance.
The report suggests that the already dire economic and public health conditions of ordinary North Koreans worsened due to their government's denial of the virus's spread, particularly in the pandemic's early years. The authors posited that Pyongyang's continuous refusal of international aid and stringent measures to limit population movement exacerbated suffering across the nation.
Compiled through interviews with 100 individuals inside North Korea—a rare endeavor made possible by an external intermediary—this report offers an unprecedented window into the human crisis caused during the pandemic. A woman interviewed for the study recounted how numerous nursing home residents died in the winter of 2020, leading to a severe shortage of coffins.
The findings indicate that deaths and distress related to suspected Covid-19 cases were widespread as early as 2020, well before North Korea reported its initial outbreak in May 2022. The report characterized the government’s neglect as "abominable" and highlighted citizens' dire lack of access to vaccines, antiviral treatments, and personal protective equipment, which had been globally available for more than a year.
Most interviewees relayed firsthand experiences of the pandemic's toll; nearly 90 percent had not been tested for Covid-19, almost 40 reported never receiving a vaccine, and 92 indicated they suspected they or acquaintances had contracted the virus. Unfortunately, many local health officials misreported Covid cases out of fear of reprisals for contradicting the official narrative.
Moreover, individuals refrained from reporting their illnesses since doing so often led to government-sanctioned detentions or collective lockdowns, both of which intensified the already critical food shortages prevalent in the nation. This chilling account lays bare the profound challenges faced by North Koreans amid the pandemic and raises serious questions about the integrity of the government's claims.
The report suggests that the already dire economic and public health conditions of ordinary North Koreans worsened due to their government's denial of the virus's spread, particularly in the pandemic's early years. The authors posited that Pyongyang's continuous refusal of international aid and stringent measures to limit population movement exacerbated suffering across the nation.
Compiled through interviews with 100 individuals inside North Korea—a rare endeavor made possible by an external intermediary—this report offers an unprecedented window into the human crisis caused during the pandemic. A woman interviewed for the study recounted how numerous nursing home residents died in the winter of 2020, leading to a severe shortage of coffins.
The findings indicate that deaths and distress related to suspected Covid-19 cases were widespread as early as 2020, well before North Korea reported its initial outbreak in May 2022. The report characterized the government’s neglect as "abominable" and highlighted citizens' dire lack of access to vaccines, antiviral treatments, and personal protective equipment, which had been globally available for more than a year.
Most interviewees relayed firsthand experiences of the pandemic's toll; nearly 90 percent had not been tested for Covid-19, almost 40 reported never receiving a vaccine, and 92 indicated they suspected they or acquaintances had contracted the virus. Unfortunately, many local health officials misreported Covid cases out of fear of reprisals for contradicting the official narrative.
Moreover, individuals refrained from reporting their illnesses since doing so often led to government-sanctioned detentions or collective lockdowns, both of which intensified the already critical food shortages prevalent in the nation. This chilling account lays bare the profound challenges faced by North Koreans amid the pandemic and raises serious questions about the integrity of the government's claims.
