A strange kind of power struggle

North Korea confirms first official COVID cases as leader Kim Jong Un orders strict lockdown

The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) says test samples from Sunday from an unspecified number of people with fevers in the capital, Pyongyang, confirmed they were infected with the Omicron variant…

To keep the virus from entering its territory, North Korea had closed its border to nearly all trade and visitors for two years, which shocked an economy already damaged by crippling US-led sanctions over its nuclear weapons and missile programme.

It is not obvious why North Korea and China are still taking such severe measures to combat a virus which seems to have become globally endemic but not particularly dangerous. As if the leadership in both countries feel their power must always be seen and felt to be greater than the power of the virus. A strange kind of power struggle perhaps.