After Declaration Of Victory Against COVID-19, North Korea No Longer Requires Masks

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JAKARTA - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared victory against the corona virus. Now the obligation to wear masks has also been lifted.

North Korea has officially lifted its mask mandate and relaxed other virus restrictions, state media said Saturday, August 13, quoted by Channel News Asia. This new policy has implications for celebrating the victory of COVID-19.

"Virus restrictions were relaxed as the public health crisis created in North Korea was completely tamed and its entire territory turned clean and free of the virulent virus in no time," Pyongyang's official Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

"The mandatory measure of wearing masks is lifted in all areas except for the frontline areas and the borders of cities and counties, considering that the whole country is turning into an epidemic-free zone," KCNA continued.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has cast doubt on North Korea's claims, saying last month it believed the situation was getting worse, not better, in the absence of independent data.

Pyongyang's declaration of victory comes despite no known vaccine program. Instead, the country says it relies on lockdowns, self-implanted drug treatments and what Leader Kim calls a "profitable Korean-style socialist system."

Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong Un's strong sister, is still accusing that the COVID-19 outbreak in North Korea was sent by South Korea. He also vowed to take deadly revenge against Seoul.