The state news agency KCNA reported the case of the Omicron variant in the capital Pyongyang, calling the situation a “great national emergency”.
It is not clear how many cases have been detected.
An outbreak of Covid-19 it could prove terrible for North Korea. The country’s crumbling health infrastructure is unlikely to be up to the task of treating large numbers of patients with a highly infectious disease.
North Korea had not previously recognized any coronavirus cases, although experts say it could be a product of Pyongyang’s limited testing capacity.
Few believe that a country of around 25 million people has been spared from a virus that has infected millions of people around the world, especially after its state media warned in 2020 that an incident involving a symptomatic defector from Korea South could lead to a “deadly and destructive disaster.”
This is an evolving story. And there’s more.