Kim praises soldiers, medics for anti-COVID effort

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held a ceremony to praise army medics who had been mobilised for anti-coronavirus efforts, following the country's much-disputed claim of beating COVID-19 last week, state media said Friday.

Thousands of medics gathered at a theatre in the country's capital Pyongyang on Thursday where Kim delivered a speech praising their "bravery and self-sacrificing spirit" in fighting a "fierce war to exterminate the malignant virus."

Kim deployed army medics to support the delivery of medicines to pharmacies in Pyongyang after the country first acknowledged an omicron outbreak in May. More than a million other public workers were mobilised to identify suspected patients while authorities also tightly restricted movement between towns and regions.

Health authorities had claimed a slowing outbreak for weeks before Kim declared victory over COVID-19 and ordered the easing of preventive measures last week, claiming the country's alleged success would be recognised as a global health miracle.