COVID Lies EXPOSED — NK in Hot Water

North Korea’s deadly COVID-19 deception left citizens dying without treatment while the regime enforced a nationwide policy of denial and lies, according to a groundbreaking report based on 100 secret interviews conducted inside the closed dictatorship.

Key Takeaways

• North Korea denied COVID-19 existence for over two years while the virus spread widely throughout all nine provinces, according to a new report by CSIS and the Bush Institute.
• The regime’s official policy of denial created a “culture of dishonesty” where doctors lied to patients, officials lied to superiors, and the government lied to everyone.
• Citizens were forced to rely on counterfeit medicines and folk remedies as the government provided virtually no medical support, leading to preventable deaths.
• Despite Kim Jong Un eventually acknowledging a “fever outbreak,” researchers found COVID-19 had been circulating widely since 2020, with the regime drastically underreporting cases and deaths.
• North Korea rejected international offers of vaccines and medical aid, leaving its unvaccinated population extremely vulnerable to severe disease.

Regime’s Deadly Policy of Denial

While North Korea claimed to have kept COVID-19 out of the country for over two years, a devastating reality was unfolding behind the regime’s propaganda. According to a groundbreaking report released by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the George W. Bush Institute, the virus was widespread and largely untreated throughout the isolated nation. The research, based on 100 in-person interviews conducted secretly inside North Korea between September and December 2023, reveals a government systematically lying about the pandemic while ordinary citizens suffered without proper medical care.

“Doctors were lying to the patients. Village leaders were lying to the party. And the government was lying to everybody,” said Dr. Victor Cha, senior vice president for Asia at CSIS and former National Security Council director for Asian Affairs.

The report used “snowball sampling” methodology to gather testimony from all nine provinces and the capital city of Pyongyang, providing unprecedented insight into how the pandemic affected ordinary North Koreans. Respondents described widespread illness and death, with many relying on folk medicine and counterfeit drugs due to the complete absence of official medical support. The regime’s refusal to acknowledge the virus created a dangerous situation where seeking help for COVID-19 symptoms could be viewed as politically dangerous.

Widespread Suffering While Leaders Downplayed Crisis

Even after North Korea finally acknowledged a health crisis in May 2022, describing it only as a “fever outbreak,” the regime continued to severely underreport its scope. Official state media claimed just 4.77 million fever cases and only 74 deaths, figures that experts universally dismiss as implausible in a country of 26 million unvaccinated people. The CSIS report indicates COVID-19 had actually been circulating widely for at least two years prior, with severe outbreaks documented in 2020 and 2021 that went completely unacknowledged by authorities.

“Everybody was effectively lying to everybody during the pandemic. Because of a government policy that said there was no COVID in the country. When they knew there was,” Dr. Victor Cha explained, highlighting how the regime’s propaganda created an environment where truth became impossible.

In May 2022, when Kim Jong Un finally acknowledged a health crisis, he criticized officials for a “disorganized” pandemic response and ordered military involvement to stabilize medicine supplies. Yet even then, he continued pushing economic goals that likely contributed to virus spread through large work gatherings. The regime’s contradictory approach left citizens bearing the full brunt of the pandemic with virtually no support.

Rejecting International Aid While Citizens Suffered

Throughout the pandemic, North Korea repeatedly rejected international offers of vaccines and medical assistance, including proposals from South Korea, China, and global health organizations. This refusal came despite the country’s critically underdeveloped healthcare system and complete lack of COVID-19 vaccination program. Experts warn that without vaccines, North Korea remains highly vulnerable to continued outbreaks and preventable deaths, particularly given its limited testing capacity and inability to detect mild or asymptomatic cases.

“With the country yet to initiate COVID-19 vaccination, there is risk that the virus may spread rapidly among the masses unless curtailed with immediate and appropriate measures,” warned Dr. Poonam Khetrapal Singh, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia.

The consequences of this rejection were devastating for ordinary citizens. According to the CSIS report, many North Koreans were left to fend for themselves, relying on dangerous self-prescribed medications or ineffective traditional remedies. Without proper medical care, many preventable deaths occurred, though the true death toll may never be known due to the regime’s ongoing information suppression.

“They didn’t allow the people to find coping mechanisms. Just shut them down, quarantine them, lock them down – and then provide them with nothing,” said Dr. Victor Cha, highlighting the regime’s cruel approach to pandemic management.

Cover-up Continues Despite Evidence

Even as evidence mounts of widespread COVID-19 impact throughout North Korea, the regime continues its policy of obfuscation and denial. According to experts interviewed in the report, this approach is consistent with the government’s broader pattern of hiding weaknesses and maintaining an image of infallibility. The pandemic response exposed fundamental failures in the North Korean system, where preserving the regime’s image took priority over protecting citizens’ lives.

“When people die, North Korean authorities will say they’ve died of overwork or from natural causes, not because of COVID-19,” explained Nam Sung-wook, a professor at Korea University in Seoul.

The CSIS report represents a rare crack in North Korea’s information blockade, revealing the human toll of the regime’s propaganda-driven governance. While the world has moved beyond the acute phase of the pandemic, North Korea’s unvaccinated population remains vulnerable to continued COVID-19 outbreaks and new variants. Without transparency and international cooperation, the country’s public health crisis is likely to persist, hidden behind a veil of state-sponsored deception that prioritizes regime preservation over human lives.