Eyewitness reports from N.Korea challenge official COVID-19 victory claim

For the first time since the global Covid-19 pandemic began, US researchers have managed to shed light on how ordinary North Koreans experienced the crisis—offering a rare glimpse behind one of the world's most impenetrable information barriers. A new report, based on 100 covert interviews conducted inside the country, challenges Pyongyang’s long-standing claim that it had successfully kept the virus out of their borders.

Published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in partnership with the George W. Bush Institute, the 26-page report reveals a grim reality: Covid-19 spread widely and caused significant suffering despite official claims of zero infections and deaths for more than two years.

The interviews, conducted between September and December 2023 with participants across all nine provinces and the capital, Pyongyang, used a technique known as “snowball sampling” to gather testimonies from North Korean citizens. This method, often employed in studying closed or repressive societies, relies on initial contacts to refer researchers to additional participants, building a network based on trust. Though less scientifically rigorous than traditional surveys, it enables access to firsthand accounts that would otherwise be impossible in a totalitarian state.

Lead author Dr. Victor Cha, a former White House adviser and Korea Chair at CSIS, described the findings as evidence of a systemic failure. According to Cha, “Doctors were lying to the patients. Village leaders were lying to the party. And the government was lying to everybody.”

According to Cha, this culture of deception, enforced by state policy denying the existence of the virus, permeated all levels of society. He emphasized that the denial was not merely propaganda for the outside world—it silenced the country’s 26 million citizens, preventing even private acknowledgment of the crisis.

As their report recalls, North Korea sealed its borders in early 2020 as Covid-19 spread globally. State media immediately claimed success in keeping the virus out, reporting no infections or deaths. For more than two years, these claims went unchallenged due to the regime’s strict control over information and movement. However, the outside world remained skeptical, especially as the country refused international aid and vaccines.

In early 2022, state media began referencing a mysterious “fever outbreak” not long after a large military parade that was aired live on television. Shortly thereafter, North Korea confirmed its first official Covid-19 case, only to declare “victory” over the virus just three months later. The regime claimed only 74 deaths from nearly five million “fever” cases—a number widely regarded as implausibly low.

The new report, however, presents a much different timeline. An overwhelming 92% of respondents said they or someone close to them had contracted Covid-19, most frequently during 2020 and 2021—well before the official acknowledgment in 2022. Respondents spoke of widespread fevers, rapid deaths, and entire work units or schools being affected. One soldier recounted how over half his military communications battalion—approximately 400 soldiers—had fallen ill by late 2021.

The consequences of Pyongyang’s denial were severe. North Korea’s healthcare system, already underfunded and ill-equipped under normal circumstances, was overwhelmed. Without access to reliable medicine or vaccines, the report claims that many turned to counterfeit drugs or self-medication, sometimes with deadly results. Inmates, factory workers, and students alike experienced sickness and disappearance from daily life due to fever-related symptoms.

The report paints a stark picture of a nation in crisis, unable—or unwilling—to respond effectively. By refusing to admit the presence of Covid-19 and rejecting international help, the government not only worsened public health outcomes but also deepened a culture of fear and misinformation. According to Cha, the findings show “a total failure on the part of the government to do anything for the people during the pandemic.”

By Nazrin Sadigova