Kim Jong-un has said that North Korea has stopped the coronavirus making inroads in his country and his response to the pandemic has been a “shining success”. According to state news agency KCNA, Mr Kim told a meeting of the politburo of the ruling Workers Party that North Korea had “thoroughly prevented the inroad of the malignant virus and maintained a stable anti-epidemic situation despite the worldwide health crisis, which is a shining success achieved.” He warned against complacency or relaxation in the anti-epidemic effort and urged North Koreans to maintain “maximum alert”, KCNA said in a statement. The politburo meeting on Thursday comes as many hard-hit countries are easing lockdowns, even as the world moves quickly past the grim milestones of 10 million confirmed infections and 500,000 deaths. North Korea has reopened schools but kept a ban on public gatherings and made it mandatory for people to wear masks in public places as part of its response to the coronavirus threat, a World Health Organisation (WHO) official said on Wednesday.
