Students participate in a dancing party to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Kim Jong-un's election as the top state leader at the Arch of Triumph plaza in Pyongyang, North Korea, April 11. Officially, not a single person has been infected with COVID-19 in North Korea. AP-Yonhap

By Jung Min-ho

Hakim Djaballah

The COVID-19 pandemic has swept across the world for more than two years. North Korea, however, is still completely free of the disease, according to its official data.

The latest data available on the World Health Organization website shows "there have been 0 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 0 deaths" in the isolated state between Jan. 3, 2020 and May 10 of this year.

Hakim Djaballah, former CEO of Institut Pasteur Korea and a virologist currently based in New York, believes that North Korea's COVID-free claim is most likely a lie.

"It is very hard to imagine any country being COVID free let alone North Korea," Djaballah told The Korea Times. "I do not believe their claim, given what has been happening near its borders."

Visitors walk across the Yalu River Broken Bridge, right, next to the Friendship Bridge connecting China and North Korea in Dandong in northeastern China's Liaoning province, in this Sept. 9, 2017, file photo. About two weeks ago, China suspended railroad freight operations with North Korea. AP-Yonhap

Two weeks ago, China suspended railroad freight operations with North Korea "in light of the current epidemic situation" in the Chinese border city of Dandong. The city government ordered all residents to swiftly return home and stay there, but it did not give any other details.

North Korea has appeared to imitate China's zero-COVID strategy, which involves draconian lockdowns. But unlike China, North Korea lacks food supplies and government efficiency. Moreover, it is unclear how much of the country's population is vaccinated ― a critical factor for the pandemic to become endemic. Even if North Korea can pursue this strategy for a while, it would not be sustainable, Djaballah said.