ArticleJournal of Korean medical science2025
Key Features and Controversies of the COVID-19 Epidemic and Response in North Korea.
Article in Journal of Korean medical science, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundNorth Korea took strong border closure measures for about three years before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic, and responded without diagnostic equipment and vaccines. This study systematically organizes the characteristics of North Korea's COVID-19 epidemic and response, and explores unanswered questions and policy implications.
methodsThe study used reports from North Korea's two official media outlets, the Chosen Central News Agency and
resultsFaced with a severe shortage of appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic drugs and equipment, North Korea responded with prolonged, strict border closures, self-quarantines, restrictions on movement, and surveillance by identifying people with fever, without mass vaccination. The cumulative number of people with fever announced by North Korean authorities on August 4, 2022, just before the end of the outbreak, was 4,772,813, and the number of deaths from COVID-19 was 74. After the pandemic, efforts are underway to restore the healthcare system, including 'catch-up immunizations.' However, major controversies have been identified in the pandemic response process, such as 1) the initial inflow and spread route, 2) the final number of deaths, 3) the reason for refusing to provide vaccines to the COVAX facility, and 4) the success of North Korea's COVID-19 response.
conclusionIdentifying North Korea's response, outcomes, and key controversies to the COVID-19 epidemic can provide important information not only for North Korea but also for countries with similar political and economic situations and the international community to better respond to the next pandemic.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.