Kim meets top officials as death toll rises in NK

North Korea reported 21 new deaths and 174,440 more people with fever symptoms on Saturday, as the country scrambles to slow the spread of COVID-19 across its unvaccinated population.

The new deaths and cases, which were from Friday, increased total numbers to 27 deaths and 524,440 illnesses. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un described the outbreak as a historically "great upheaval" and called for unity between the government and people to stabilize the outbreak as quickly as possible.

He expressed optimism that the country could bring the outbreak under control. He called for officials to take lessons from the successful pandemic responses of other nations and picked an example in China. North Korea since Thursday has imposed steps aimed at restricting the movement of people and supplies between cities and counties.