N. Korea moves to soften curbs amid doubts over COVID counts

By HYUNG-JIN KIM
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and other top officials have discussed revising stringent anti-epidemic restrictions as they maintain a widely disputed claim that the country’s first COVID-19 outbreak is slowing. The discussion at the North’s Politburo meeting Sunday suggests it will soon relax a set of draconian curbs imposed after its recent admission of the omicron outbreak out of concern about its food and economic situations. The official Korean Central News Agency said Kim and other Politburo members “examined the issue of effectively and quickly coordinating and enforcing the anti-epidemic regulations and guidelines given the current stable anti-epidemic situation.” Experts say North Korea is understating its fatality rate to prevent any political damage to Kim at home.