North Korean leader says his country faces 'great turmoil'
Kim Jong-un wears a face mask as he presides over a politburo meeting of the ruling Workers' Party regarding the North's first known case of COVID-19 in Pyongyang, May 12, in this screen grab from North Korea's Korean Central TV. Yonhap
North Korea reported 21 additional COVID-19 deaths for Friday, with more than 174,400 people nationwide suffering from a “fever,” as its leader Kim Jong-un stated that his country is faced with "great turmoil due to the spread of the virus.
Pyongyang's state media released the updated tally, after Kim presided over an early-morning politburo meeting.
Kim was quoted as saying that the spread of the malicious coronavirus was "great turmoil since the country's founding."
A total of around 524,440 people in North Korea have shown symptoms of fever between late April and May 13, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Among them, 243,630 have been completely cured, with roughly 280,810 being treated, it added.
On Thursday, the reclusive North announced its first outbreak of COVID-19 since January 2020. (Yonhap)