Originating in Wuhan, China in late 2019, the new coronavirus has hit the Asian giant and its South Korean and Japanese neighbours hard. But for one reason or another, one of China's neighbours has yet to report a single case.
As of Monday, North Korea has no confirmed cases of COVID-19, and Kim Jong-un apparently wants to keep things that way. During a meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea late last week, Kim called on authorities to close off all potential “channels and space through which the infectious disease may find its way” into the country.
“In case the infectious disease spreading beyond control finds it ways into our country, it will entail serious consequences,” Kim warned, his remarks cited by the Korean Central News Agency.
So far, the country seems to have been successful in staving off the virus – which has hit neighbouring China and South Korea hard. The hermit kingdom, whose access with the outside world is already relatively limited even in the best of times, has managed to do so with a series of “revolutionary” measures, including shutting its borders to tourists, cancelling all flights to Pyongyang from China and Russia, and subjecting North Korea-bound passenger trains to stringent inspections, including quarantine in Sinuiju, in the country's west, for anyone exhibiting even mild possible symptoms of the virus.
Foreigners already in the country are…
