N Korea claims victory over virus, blames Seoul for outbreak

By KIM TONG-HYUNG
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has declared victory over COVID-19 and ordered an easing of preventive measures, calling his country’s officially reported death toll of just 74 people an unprecedented miracle in the history of world health. According to state media, Kim’s powerful sister also spoke during the virus meeting in Pyongyang on Wednesday and blamed the country’s infections on anti-Pyongyang leaflets flown in by South Korea She warned of counteraction that would be a “deadly retaliatory one.” After maintaining a widely disputed claim to be coronavirus-free for more than two years, North Korea in May admitted to a COVID-19 outbreak. Experts have widely questioned the reported death toll, calling it dubiously low.