N.Korea’s Kim declares victory over virus

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
has declared victory in the battle against the novel coronavirus
and ordered a lifting of its maximum anti-epidemic measures
imposed in May, state media KCNA said on Thursday.
North Korea has not revealed how many confirmed infections
of the virus it has found, but since July 29 it has reported no
new suspected cases with what international aid organisations
say are limited testing capabilities.
Kim said North Korea’s official death rate of 74 people is
an “unprecedented miracle” compared to other countries, KCNA
reported.
Experts have said that the North’s numbers are unlikely to
show the whole picture.
Its declaration of victory comes despite rolling out no
known vaccine programme. Instead, the country says it relied on
lockdowns, homegrown medicine treatments, and what Kim called
the “advantageous Korean-style socialist system.”
He ordered the lifting of maximum anti-pandemic measures,
but said that North Korea must maintain a “steel-strong
anti-epidemic barrier and intensifying the anti-epidemic work
until the end of the global health crisis.”
Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, said the North Korean leader
himself had suffered from fever symptoms, and blamed leaflets
from South Korea for causing the outbreak, KCNA reported.