Cruise ship in Japan has more coronavirus cases than any other place outside of China
Nearly every country and territory in East Asia has confirmed a case of the Wuhan coronavirus since the outbreak began in December — but not North Korea.
One of the world’s poorest countries has managed to avoid the virus, its public statements say — even though every country and territory within a 1,500-mile radius, except for sparsely populated Mongolia, has confirmed a case.
What this means: It’s unclear how North Korea has been able to avoid the virus. Pyongyang has either been very lucky, isn’t saying something, or is reaping one of the few benefits of being a so-called «hermit nation.»
Pyongyang has not publicly acknowledged any confirmed coronavirus patients, but it’s very possible someone inside North Korea has been infected, said Nam Sung-wook, a professor at Korea University and former head of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS),
Nam suspects a Chinese patient could have infected someone from North Korea across their shared border.
«We know that the Chinese regions close to the North Korean border, such as Dandong and Shenyang, have confirmed patients. About 90% of North Korean trade is with China and we know so many people, trucks and trains passed through the border between the two nations before North Korea installed recent regulations» to stop the virus from getting into the country, Nam told CNN.
