North Korea's Kim declares victory in battle against COVID-19: Report

SEOUL: 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 (Aug 11).

North Korea has not revealed how many confirmed infections of the virus it has found, but since Jul 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.