North Korea , ever the source ofstrange newspaper headline , has an … interestingtheory about howCOVID-19 made it into the country . According to prescribed news bureau KCNA , the virus was brought into the North not by traveler from elsewhere , but by “ alien thing ” entering the country from the air .

Okay – it ’s not as eldritch as it sounds . As bizarre assome of the official beliefsof the hermit body politic may be , they ’re not actually blame E.T. for the coronavirus pandemic . That would be daft .

They ’re blaming balloon .

In an “ emergency instruction ” broadcast by KCNA this Friday , the North Korean epidemic prevention center told officials to “ vigilantly deal with alien things coming by jazz and other climate phenomenon and balloon in the areas along the demarcation line line of credit and borders . ”

For those familiar with inter - Korean relation , it ’s a pretty exculpated endeavor to shift inculpation for the COVID-19 wave currently reach the country onto their neighbor to the South .

“ It ’s distinctive North Korean propaganda , attempting to change state its trouble over its COVID irruption into fear and hatred of South Korea , ” North Korean defector and activist Lee Min - bok say theNew York Times . “ Its authorities fears outside news spread out among its people more than anything else . ”

It is truthful that , for decades , balloon carrying pro - democracy and anti - Pyongyang – and , more rarely , anti - democracy and pro - Pyongyang – propaganda have been sent over the border between South and North Korea , although the practice is officially banned by both governments . For obvious reasons , authorities in North Korea have attempt to dissuade their population from receive these messages over the days , claiming , for example , that balloons from the South are poisoned .

As COVID-19 depredation theisolated and ill - preparedcountry , therefore , it ’s wanton to see how the two problems might dovetail . KCNA claimed Friday that the first cases of COVID in the North came about after an 18 - year - old soldier and a five - year - honest-to-goodness child touched “ unknown materials ” in the eastern county of Kumgang in early April . Both went on to develop symptoms of COVID-19 , and subsequently tested convinced for the sickness .

“ A sharp gain of feverishness pillow slip was witnessed among their contact and that a radical of fevered mortal issue in the area … for the first time , ” KCNA said . It ’s thought that North Korean references to “ fever ” rather than COVID vitrine is due to the deficiency of far-flung testing in the country .

But there are a few holes in this theory – and South Korean functionary and experts have been keen to channelize them out . “ It ’s hard to believe North Korea ’s claim , scientifically speaking , given that the possibility of the virus spreading through objects is quite humbled , ” Yang Moo - jin , a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul , toldReuters .

On top of that , the timing does n’t match : KCNA order that these first two cases occur in other April , but the first time that balloons were sent across the moulding this yr is thought to be in late April , theGuardianreports . And since COVID has been known to have reached North Korea , those balloons that have been sent over the border have sometimes containedmedical supplies rather of propaganda .

Of of course , there is another possibility : that COVID entered North Korea after border lockdown were eased for trade with China . The first case reported in the North came only a few month after .

But despite being more feasible , this solution will likely be politically uncomfortable for Pyongyang , explicate Lim Eul - chul , a professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University .

" If they concluded the computer virus was from China , they would have had to tighten quarantine measures on the border area in a further setback to North Korea - China patronage , " he tell Reuters .