North Korea claims to be one of the only countries in Asia with no cases of the coronavirus, but a new report says almost 200 soldiers have died and thousands more are quarantined.
About 180 North Korean soldiers have died as a result of the COVID-19 virus, according to South Korean news organization Daily NK. A source inside the North Korean military said an account regarding the impact from the virus on soldiers was sent to military leaders and reported the dozens of deaths and that about 3,700 soldiers were quarantined.
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The military source also said most of the soldiers who have died were stationed along the hermit nation’s border with China. Authorities have reportedly threatened to punish military officials who don’t properly follow disease control policy.
Officers will “be held responsible for the deaths that have occurred in their units,” the source said.
Yonhap News Agency, another South Korean media outlet, reported Monday that 10,000 North Korean citizens were quarantined, but 4,000 have since been released.
North Korean state media claimed Monday that the “infectious disease did not flow into our country yet,” according to Newsweek.
North Korean media also said the threat the coronavirus could pose is “unpredictable” and that “work to completely lock down all routes through which the infectious disease can flow in — the border, sea, and air — should be continued with high intensity.”
North Korea would be incredibly vulnerable to a widespread outbreak because of its poor infrastructure and healthcare capacity, according to experts. It neighbors China, which is where the COVID-19 outbreak began and where there have been more than 80,000 cases and at least 3,136 deaths.
