SEOUL — With international focus on the coronavirus, North Korea has doubled down on its missile development and military exercises in recent weeks while signaling new confidence that it has dodged an outbreak of its own. Some international experts are skeptical of North Korea's assertion that it has not had a single case of the new coronavirus, which was first detected in neighboring China. But for the first time since late February, North Korean soldiers conducting military drills and test firing short-range ballistic missiles over the weekend were shown not wearing face masks in state media photographs. North Korea has said it has released almost all the foreigners it quarantined as a precaution, and in a decision that surprised some experts, announced it would hold a big gathering of its Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) in early April.

Source: International New York Times March 23, 2020 07:41 UTC