North Korea blamed its COVID-19 outbreak on ¡°alien things¡± likely sent by balloon across its border with South Korea, saying a teenage soldier and a 5-year-old girl in April were the first people in the country infected by coronavirus.
Kim Jong Un¡¯s regime called on its officials ¡°to vigilantly deal with alien things coming by wind and other climate phenomena and balloons in the areas along the demarcation line and borders,¡± the official Korean Central News Agency said Friday.
South Korea¡¯s Unification Ministry repudiated the claims from North Korea. It said in a briefing with reporters that the balloon launches took place in late April, after Pyongyang said the first infections appeared mid-month. The ministry added that medical research shows there are no precedents for the type of transmission described by its neighbor.
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