This picture taken on July 26, 2020 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on July 27 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaking at a ceremony to confer "Paektusan" commemorative pistols on leading commanding officers of DPRK armed forces on the occasion of the 67th anniversary of the Korean War ceasefire in Pyongyang. (Photo by STR / KCNA VIA KNS / AFP) / - South Korea OUT / ---EDITORS NOTE--- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO/KCNA VIA KNS" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS / THIS PICTURE WAS MADE AVAILABLE BY A THIRD PARTY. AFP CAN NOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, LOCATION, DATE AND CONTENT OF THIS IMAGE --- /
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told the audience at a military parade Saturday that he was grateful “not a single person” in the North had contracted the coronavirus that has swept the world since emerging in neighbouring China.
Pyongyang closed its borders in January to try to protect itself from the disease and regularly said it had no cases, but state media had shied away from such explicit statements in recent months, instead stressing the importance of prevention efforts.