North Korea Faces Infectious Disease Outbreak Amid COVID-19 Battle

A sign depicting a scene of medical products transportation at the empty street, amid growing fears over the spread of COVID-19, in Pyongyang, North Korea, in a photo released by Kyodo on May 23, 2022. Kyodo via Reuters

SEOUL—North Korea reported an outbreak of an unidentified intestinal epidemic in a farming region on Thursday, putting further strain on the isolated country as it battles chronic food shortages and a wave of COVID-19 infections.

Leader Kim Jong Un sent medicines to the western port city of Haeju on Wednesday to help patients suffering from the “acute enteric epidemic,” state news agency KCNA said, without giving the number affected or identifying the disease.