“Despite what the North’s propaganda is describing as an all-out effort, the fear is palpable among citizens, according to defectors in South Korea with contacts in the North, and some outside observers worry the outbreak may get much worse, with much of an impoverished, unvaccinated population left without enough hospital care and struggling to afford even simple medicine.” North Korea is already a bad place to live. Now, Covid is adding a terrible twist to a backwards society under the rule of a mad dictator. No country was ready for the pandemic. But North Korea could be the least ready of all. Tea and infomercials: N. Korea fights COVID with few tools.