Western Leftists working with the Chinese have gotten the DPRK to also pretend to have some novel covid outbreak:
State media have reported an Omicron outbreak in the capital, Pyongyang, but did not state the number of cases.
North Korea has rejected any kind of vaccine programme, even when offered a supply by other countries.
Instead, it controlled Covid by sealing its borders - and had never recorded a case, despite experts believing the virus has long been present.
Outsiders say the nation's 25 million population is vulnerable due to the lack of a Covid-19 vaccine programme, even rejecting offers from the international community to supply millions of AstraZeneca and Chinese-made Sinovac jabs last year.
There have also been concerns about North Korea's impoverished healthcare system.
KCNA said leader Kim Jong-un had vowed to eradicate the outbreak, which it called a "severe national emergency" that had breached the country's "quarantine front".
At the meeting outlining the new Covid rules, Mr Kim was seen wearing a face mask on television for what is believed to be the first time. He soon removed it, while other officials present kept theirs on.
