A trolley bus is disinfected amid fears over the spread of the novel coronavirus in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this photo taken on February 22, 2020 and released by Kyodo February 23, 2020. Picture taken February 22, 2020.
The novel coronavirus has infected more than 80,00 people across 26 countries worldwide since it was discovered in Wuhan late in 2019. Yet, North Korea, which shares an 800-mile border with China wherein the most number of cases and deaths have been recorded, insists that they do not have a single case of COVID-19 inside their boundaries.
There have been unverified reports alleging that North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un had a man executed after he visited a public bath when he was supposed to be in quarantine. There have also been reports that there is already one case of COVID-19 in the country. However, the government remains adamant with their claims that the virus has not crossed their borders, which many health experts question.
The man, who was reportedly executed, was a trade official who returned from China and was immediately placed in isolation. According to reports the man was arrested from the public bath and was shot right after for risking the spread of the killer virus.
Per New York Post, Kim Jung-un has vowed to invoke "military law" against anyone who leaves quarantine without prior information or clearance.
On the other hand, according to UK's Mirror, a North Korea National Security Agency Official was also exiled to work in a farm after hiding the fact that he recently traveled to China, which was the virus' epicenter.
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While South Korean media have reported that there have been several coronavirus cases and possible deaths inside the North Korean borders, Pyongyang based World Health Organization (WHO) officials said that they have not received any notification of these cases from the government.
The authoritarian country remains steadfast that the virus has not entered their country yet, but experts have hinted skepticism on these claims. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's Bir Mandal, North Korean authorities have told them that they have not recorded any cases of the disease, but the FAO remains suspicious.
In a statement to Fox News, Harry Kazianis, Director of Korean Studies at the Center for National Interest said that there is no way that North Korea is not impacted by the killer virus. He also added that the government is clearly lying and suppressing the news since they do not want to show any weakness or show that there is a threat to Kim Jong-un's regime.
Furthermore, he said that if the porous sections within the 880-mile border connecting China and North Korea are to be considered, and how the regime depends mostly on illegal trading to survive, it is next to impossible if the virus has not come to the country yet.
In the past week, Song In Bom, a North Korean Health Ministry Official told the state media that they should not be too relieved of having any cases but instead have civil awareness and work hand in hand to prevent the virus from spreading. He also stressed that even if there are no cases in the country yet, they are prepared in case an outbreak happens.
However, with it's dated health care system, experts and aid workers say that the country is ill-equipped to handle the virus and that it would struggle to manage an outbreak if it happens.
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