Public health measures on COVID-19 in North Korea: a quantitative analysis of media programmes in 2020–2022

OBJECTIVES: Details regarding the management of COVID-19 in North Korea are unknown. The aim of this paper was to analyse media programmes in North Korea in order to understand public health measures and policies concerning COVID-19. SETTING: State-run news agency in North Korea. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The classification of television programmes on COVID-19 broadcast in a state-run news agency, from January 2020 to May 2022, and public health measures introduced in the programmes. RESULTS: A total of 2671 programmes concerning COVID-19 were included in the study. These programmes provided detailed clinical guidelines to laypeople without medical expertise, including instructions for the usage of medication and preventive measures. An association between the media concern regarding COVID-19 and trade volume, as a proxy of border closure according to the concern of the authorities, provided hints to understand the priorities and aims of the authorities. CONCLUSIONS: The research outcomes provided significant insights into the effort to understand an impaired healthcare system and prevalent drug abuse behaviours in North Korea. Findings from further studies on the recently collected data might suggest additional implications on the North Korean policies on COVID-19.