{"id":453585,"date":"2022-05-27T11:37:15","date_gmt":"2022-05-27T08:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/north-koreas-tiny-covid-death-rate-leaves-many-in-disbelief\/"},"modified":"2022-05-27T11:37:15","modified_gmt":"2022-05-27T08:37:15","slug":"north-koreas-tiny-covid-death-rate-leaves-many-in-disbelief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/north-koreas-tiny-covid-death-rate-leaves-many-in-disbelief\/","title":{"rendered":"#North Korea\u2019s tiny COVID death rate leaves many in disbelief"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3f6c238aa66\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3f6c238aa66\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/north-koreas-tiny-covid-death-rate-leaves-many-in-disbelief\/#%E2%80%9CNorth_Koreas_tiny_COVID_death_rate_leaves_many_in_disbelief%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;North Korea\u2019s tiny COVID death rate leaves many in disbelief&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CNorth_Koreas_tiny_COVID_death_rate_leaves_many_in_disbelief%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;North Korea\u2019s tiny COVID death rate leaves many in disbelief&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>According to North Korea, its fight against COVID-19 has been impressive: About 3.3 million people have been reported sick with fevers, but only 69 have died.<\/p>\n<p>If all are coronavirus cases, that\u2019s a fatality rate of 0.002%, something no other country, including the world\u2019s richest, has achieved against a disease that has killed more than 6 million people.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/covid-politics-health-north-korea-0a198d8d7ee70ccf897e8a592ec14e32\">The North\u2019s claims<\/a>, however, are being met with\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/covid-health-epidemics-north-korea-6135c9f9c72536afb67f5f7ceb0569d7\">widespread doubt<\/a>\u00a0about two weeks after it acknowledged its\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/covid-health-government-and-politics-south-korea-north-07e3aa5c1b6bce2323c8621c05a61ea4\">first domestic COVID-19 outbreak<\/a>. Experts say the impoverished North should have suffered far greater deaths than reported because there are very few vaccines, a sizable number of undernourished people and a lack of critical care facilities and test kits to detect virus cases in large numbers.<\/p>\n<p>North Korea\u2019s secretiveness makes it unlikely outsiders can confirm the true scale of the outbreak. Some observers say North Korea is underreporting fatalities to protect leader Kim Jong Un at all costs. There\u2019s also a possibility it might have exaggerated the outbreak in a bid to bolster control of its 26 million people.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/ADDITION_Koreas_Tensions.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Many believe North Korea is underreporting fatalities to protect leader Kim Jong Un at all costs.\" class=\"wp-image-22434461\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/ADDITION_Koreas_Tensions.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/ADDITION_Koreas_Tensions.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/ADDITION_Koreas_Tensions.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/ADDITION_Koreas_Tensions.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Many believe North Korea is underreporting fatalities to protect leader Kim Jong Un at all costs. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cScientifically, their figures can\u2019t be accepted,\u201d said Lee Yo Han, a professor at Ajou University Graduate School of Public Health in South Korea, adding that the public data \u201cwere likely all controlled (by the authorities) and embedded with their political intentions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The most likely course is that North Korea soon proclaims victory over COVID-19, maybe during a June political meeting, with all credit given to Kim\u2019s leadership. The 38-year-old ruler is desperate, observers say, to win bigger public support as he deals with severe economic difficulties caused by border shutdowns, U.N. sanctions and his own mismanagement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDiverse public complaints have accumulated, so it\u2019s time to (strengthen) internal control,\u201d said Choi Kang, president of Seoul\u2019s Asan Institute for Policy Studies. \u201cKim Jong Un has been taking the lead in the anti-epidemic efforts to show that his campaign is very successful and to reinforce his grip on power.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Before North Korea on May 12 admitted to an omicron outbreak, it had maintained a widely disputed claim that it had zero domestic infections for more than two years. When the North at last publicized the outbreak, many wondered why now.<\/p>\n<p>It was initially seen as an attempt to exploit the outbreak to get foreign humanitarian assistance. There were hopes that possible aid by Seoul and Washington could help resume long-stalled diplomacy on Pyongyang\u2019s nuclear program.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/AP22147207674735.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/AP22147207674735.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"An employee of Pyongyang Dental Hygiene Products Factory disinfects the floor in Pyongyang, North Korea on May 16, 2022.\" class=\"wp-image-22434455\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/AP22147207674735.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/AP22147207674735.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/AP22147207674735.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/AP22147207674735.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>An employee of Pyongyang Dental Hygiene Products Factory disinfects the floor in Pyongyang, North Korea on May 16, 2022. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Kim has called the outbreak a \u201cgreat upheaval\u201d and launched what his propaganda teams call an all-out effort to suppress it.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s held several Politburo meetings to criticize officials, inspected pharmacies at dawn and mobilized troops to support medicine delivery. A health official explained pandemic responses on state TV, while state <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a>papers have churned out articles on\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/covid-health-south-korea-north-government-and-politics-4f4641bd167d728318fcafcf2bcc008b\">how to deal with fever<\/a>, including gargling with saltwater and drinking honey or willow leaf tea.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHoney is a rarity for ordinary North Koreans. They likely felt bad when their government asked them to drink honey tea,\u201d said Seo Jae-pyong, a North Korean defector-turned-activist in Seoul. \u201cI have an elder brother left in North Korea and have big worries about him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Every morning, North Korea releases details about the number of new patients with fever symptoms, but not with COVID-19. Experts believe most cases should be counted as COVID-19 because while North Korean health authorities lack diagnostic kits, they still know how to distinguish the symptoms from fevers caused by the other prevalent infectious diseases.<\/p>\n<p>North Korea\u2019s daily fever tally peaked at nearly 400,000 early last week; it has nosedived to around 100,000 in the past few days. On Friday, it added one more death after claiming no fatalities for three consecutive days.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/NORTH_KOREA-1.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Experts say North Korea should have suffered far greater deaths than reported because there are very few vaccines.\" class=\"wp-image-22434486\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/NORTH_KOREA-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/NORTH_KOREA-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/NORTH_KOREA-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/NORTH_KOREA-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Experts say North Korea should have suffered far greater deaths than reported because there are very few vaccines.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">via REUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cOur country set a world record for having no single (COVID-19) infection for the longest period \u2026 and we\u2019ve now made an achievement of reversing the tide of the abrupt outbreak in a short period,\u201d the main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said Thursday. \u201cThis evidently proves the scientific nature of our country\u2019s emergency anti-epidemic steps.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Medical experts question the validity of North Korea\u2019s stated fatality rate of 0.002%. Given that South Korea\u2019s mortality rate of unvaccinated people for the omicron variant was 0.6%, North Korea must have similar or higher death rates because of its low capacity to treat patients and its people\u2019s poor nutrition, said Shin Young-jeon, a professor of preventive medicine at Seoul\u2019s Hanyang University.<\/p>\n<p>In a study published by the Johns Hopkins University last year, North Korea ranked 193 out of 195 countries for its ability to deal with an epidemic. U.N. reports in recent years said about 40% of its people were undernourished. North Korea\u2019s free <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social<\/a>ist public health care system has been in shambles for decades, and defectors testify that while in the North, they bought medicines at markets or somewhere else.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNorth Korea wouldn\u2019t really care about fatalities at all,\u201d said Choi Jung Hun, a defector who worked as a doctor in North Korea in the 2000s. \u201cMany North Koreans have already died of malaria, measles, chickenpox and typhoid. There are all kind of infectious diseases there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Choi, now a researcher at a Korea University-affiliated institute in South Korea, said North Korea likely decided to admit to the omicron outbreak because it sees it as less lethal and more manageable. He suspected North Korea set up a scenario to raise up and then bring down fever cases so as to boost Kim\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/Virus_Outbreak_North_Korea_Struggle-1.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Kim Jong Un called the outbreak a \u201cgreat upheaval\u201d and launched what his propaganda teams call an all-out effort to suppress it.\" class=\"wp-image-22434488\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/Virus_Outbreak_North_Korea_Struggle-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/Virus_Outbreak_North_Korea_Struggle-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/Virus_Outbreak_North_Korea_Struggle-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/Virus_Outbreak_North_Korea_Struggle-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Kim Jong Un called the outbreak a \u201cgreat upheaval\u201d and launched what his propaganda teams call an all-out effort to suppress it.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Lee, the Ajou professor, said North Korea may have overstated its earlier fever cases to give \u201ca powerful shock\u201d to the public to rally support for the government, but avoided releasing details of too many deaths to stave off public unrest.<\/p>\n<p>The outbreak could eventually kill more than 100,000, if people remain unvaccinated and die at the same death rate as in South Korea, Shin, the Hanyang professor, warned.<\/p>\n<p>The North Korean outbreak will likely last several months, Moon Jin Soo, director of the Institute for Health and Unification Studies at Seoul National University, said. It\u2019s urgent to ship anti-viral pills and other essential medications to North Korea, rather than vaccines whose roll out would take at least a couple of months, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNorth Korea could spend a couple more months massaging the statistics, but they could also abruptly announce their victory this weekend,\u201d said Ahn Kyung-su, head of DPRKHEALTH.ORG, a website focusing on health issues in North Korea. \u201cNorth Korea always operates beyond your imagination. It\u2019s hard to predict what they\u2019ll do, but they do have a plan.\u201d\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/05\/27\/north-koreas-tiny-covid-death-rate-leaves-many-in-disbelief\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;North Korea\u2019s tiny COVID death rate leaves many in disbelief&#8221; According to North Korea, its fight against COVID-19 has been impressive: About 3.3 million people have been reported sick with fevers, but only 69 have died. If all are coronavirus cases, that\u2019s a fatality rate of 0.002%, something no other country, including the world\u2019s richest,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":453586,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/newspress-collage-22434440-1653639405353.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&1653625094&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[129681,1545,82862,27926,83955],"class_list":["post-453585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-5-27-22","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-vaccine","tag-north-korea","tag-pandemics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=453585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/453586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=453585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=453585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=453585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}