Coronavirus: nearly 200 North Korea soldiers ‘die from outbreak government refuses to acknowledge’

Pyongyang’s official stance remains that the North is free of the virus, with the cloistered nation stubbornly resisting calls for greater transparency

But South Korean media outlets report that hundreds have died in the secretive state, with many thousands more in quarantine

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Workers wearing protective suits spray disinfectant as a precaution against the new coronavirus at a factory in Pyongyang. Photo: Korean Central News Agency/ AP

Published: 9:21am, 10 Mar 2020Updated: 9:30am, 10 Mar 2020

Hundreds of North Korean soldiers have reportedly died from the coronavirus – and thousands of others are being quarantined. But the secretive nation's leaders are sticking to the official narrative that the global epidemic has not reached them.

According to Daily NK, a South Korean news organisation, the Covid-19 virus killed 180 North Korean soldiers in January and February and has sent another 3,700 into quarantine. And according to South Korea's government-backed Yonhap News Agency, almost 10,000 people have been quarantined over coronavirus fears, but nearly 4,000 have been released since they did not present symptoms.

North Korean soldiers pictured in the truce village of Panmunjom in 2000. Photo: Reuters

But the North Korean government line has not changed. The cloistered nation has remained stubbornly resistant to providing transparent information about the reported outbreak in the country.

“The infectious disease did not flow into our country yet,” North Korea's government-controlled Rodong Sinmun said on Monday, according to Newsweek.

As of Tuesday, the coronavirus had infected more than 112,000 people globally and led to nearly 4,000 deaths.

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