North Korea claims to be developing its own anti-Covid-19 vaccine, although it has not yet reported any cases of nCoV.

According to a report posted on Mirae, a website operated by the Korean Science and Technology Commission on July 18, scientists at the commission are conducting clinical trials of the anti-Covid-19 vaccine.

North Korea confirmed the immunity and safety of the aforementioned vaccine through animal testing and clinical trials began in July. Korean scientists are discussing the conduct.

For North Koreans, this information is a positive sign of the country's scientific progress in health.

The race to develop the Covid-19 vaccine, a pandemic that makes nearly 16 million people infected and more than 600,000 dead globally, is one of the world's most pressing and difficult scientific-technological challenges in the world.

"It can cost a lot of money and countries are investing heavily to win the competition for scientific superiority and national pride," said Joshua Berlinger, editor of CNN.

However, North Korea is one of the countries with the least developed health systems in the world.

In 2019, North Korea is listed as one of the weakest countries in the world in terms of its readiness to respond to the disease, according to the Global Health Security Index by Johns Hopkins University, USA.

But as Covid-19 continued to wreak havoc on many large countries with modern medicine in the world, such as the United States, North Korea has not reported any cases of nCoV since the outbreak in Wuhan, China.

"Why doesn't a country not recognize nCoV infections and have a difficult economy to put time, money and resources into the vaccine development race?" Berlinger asked.

Berlinger said that finding the correct answer to this question is not easy.

North Korea is one of the first countries to see Covid-19 as a serious threat, as most experts believe that its health sector will quickly be overwhelmed by a pandemic.

The ability to test is also a problem for Pyongyang.

Dr. Salvador said in an email that since the epidemic began, North Korea has isolated 25,551 people.

This has led many public health experts to be skeptical of Pyongyang's claim to not record nCoV infections.

However, Berlinger also said that North Korea can effectively prevent the outbreak of the spread, thanks to the rapid implementation of blockade measures, while many other countries are hesitant.

Earlier this month, President Kim Jong-un said the country had "had a great success" in preventing Covid-19 from invading, but called on people to remain vigilant as the global pandemic was still complicated.

It is not clear how vaccine development will play a role in North Korea's anti-pandemic strategy.

The race for North Korea's vaccine development does not appear to be aimed at financial goals, but is an attempt to spread the image of the country.

For decades, North Korea was known as a semi-industrialized nation and possessed technological advances thanks to Japanese heritage left during the occupation of the peninsula.

The defectors say today, North Korea's technological superiority has become blurred.

"Talent, science and technology are our important weapons and strategic assets," state news agency KCNA said in June and added that these were "things that make the world admire."

The program for developing nuclear weapons is considered as a typical example of this statement, when North Korea was one of eight countries in the world to have tested this weapon.

Local media also tend to focus on areas where the government does not meet the needs of the people, especially electricity and food security.

However, developing the Covid-19 vaccine is a much harder challenge than many of the achievements that North Korea has achieved.

This ambitious plan is clearly seen as a great propaganda tool for the North Korean leader, whose mission is to protect people based on his extraordinary abilities, according to Berlinger.