N. Korea’s low death count questioned amid COVID-19 outbreak

By HYUNG-JIN KIM
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea says that nearly 10% of its 26 million people have fallen ill and 65 people have died amid its first COVID-19 outbreak. Outside experts question the validity of its reported fatalities and worry about a possible humanitarian crisis. Some observers say North Korea was likely forced to acknowledge the omicron outbreak last week because it couldn’t hide the highly contagious viral spread among its people and suffer possible public discontent with leader Kim Jong Un. Observers also believe North Korea is underreporting mortalities to try to show that its pandemic response is effective, while the country lacks test kits to confirm a large number of virus cases.