North Korea's Covid-19 Claims Exposed as False: Report Reveals Hidden Death Toll

Tue Oct 21 2025 08:48:23 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

A new report highlights severe discrepancies in North Korea's Covid-19 response, revealing a far greater impact than the regime admitted.

North Korea has grossly understated its Covid-19 pandemic toll, asserting only 74 deaths while evidence suggests widespread suffering and a lack of health care. A report by U.S. research groups reveals citizens faced severe health issues with minimal resources, as the government denied international assistance and suppressed accurate data reporting.

North Korea has maintained for years that it successfully defeated the Covid-19 pandemic with an astonishingly low death toll of just 74, a claim hailed by officials as an "unprecedented miracle" in global public health. However, a recently published report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the George W. Bush Institute unveils a disturbing reality, asserting that the government misrepresented the situation and neglected to provide necessary healthcare to its citizens during the crisis.

This extensive research includes firsthand accounts collected via interviews with 100 residents of North Korea conducted by an outside intermediary, shedding light on the dire circumstances faced by the population during the pandemic. Observations indicate that the overall health and economic situations of ordinary citizens deteriorated significantly in the wake of the government’s dismissal of the virus spread.

According to the report, the North Korean regime’s refusal to accept international help coupled with its harsh lockdowns exacerbated the difficulties citizens faced. An anonymous woman quoted in the findings revealed that winter 2020 saw such a spike in nursing home deaths that "there weren't enough coffins" to manage the bodies.

The report further stipulates that Covid-related illnesses and fatalities were rampant in North Korea prior to the government’s acknowledgment of an outbreak in May 2022. The authors of the report characterized the government's negligence during the pandemic as "abominable."

Interviewees reported stark shortages of vaccines and antiviral medications, despite their availability on a global scale for over a year. The data revealed that nearly 90% of those interviewed had never been tested for the virus. Less than 40% received any form of vaccination, and 92 expressed suspicion that they or people they knew had contracted Covid-19, without any means of confirmation.

Local health officials often underreported Covid-19 deaths and cases, fearing repercussions for failing to adhere to the government’s narrative of a pandemic-free state. Citizens similarly refrained from reporting sicknesses, as seeking help from the government could result in detention or enforced lockdowns, further deteriorating their already precarious access to food and resources.