Communist government media in North Korea revealed on Thursday that the country had experienced a “break” in Chinese coronavirus prevention, confirming the first-ever official cases of the disease within its borders. Dictator Kim Jong-un reportedly presided over a meeting of the ruling Politburo to berate public health officials for their “carelessness, relaxation, irresponsibility and inefficiency” and implement sweeping lockdowns on the population. North Korea had not admitted to a single case of Chinese coronavirus in the country before Thursday. One alleged case in August 2020 resulted in an ” inconclusive ” coronavirus test, according to the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) at the time. Outside observers have asserted that North Korea – sandwiched between the origin country of the virus, China, and South Korea and Russia, which have both experienced major surges in coronavirus cases – documenting zero Chinese coronavirus cases is a near impossibility. Skeptics have also pointed to the fact that North Korea requested shipments of coronavirus vaccine candidates from the W.H.O.’s Covax initiative, which would presumably be unnecessary in a country with zero cases. Kim Jong-un delivered a tearful speech in October 2020, apologizing to his people for his poor governance, that prompted speculation of a significant loss…