A wave of respiratory illness is sweeping parts of North Korea as the seasons change this fall, with adults and children alike battling colds that drag on for weeks. Health authorities, however, offer little beyond advice to wash hands and gargle with salt water, and frustrated North Koreans want a real response.
Cold cases have been climbing in Kaechon and other cities and counties across South Pyongan province. A source in the province shared the news with Daily NK on Tuesday. Schools and local clinics have responded by stressing traditional hygiene and prevention rules. These include frequent handwashing, saltwater gargling and drinking warm water or tea.
Kaechon is an industrial city in South Pyongan province, north of the capital Pyongyang. The surrounding area is also home to Camp 14, one of North Korea’s best-known political prison camps.
Many North Koreans say colds have become harder to shake since the COVID-19 pandemic. “Ever since COVID, it feels like colds last longer and don’t go away easily,” the source said. Parents are especially worried because many young children cough and sniffle for two to three weeks.
North Korea acknowledged its first COVID-19 outbreak in May 2022 and declared victory three months later. The government never released credible data on infections or deaths from the virus. As a result, many North Koreans have drawn their own conclusions about the disease’s lasting effects.
Critics say the health authorities’ response remains superficial and largely for show. Officials do not explain which respiratory illness is spreading or what is causing it. Instead, they keep repeating the importance of personal hygiene without offering any concrete plan.
“Children cough and have runny noses for weeks, yet all they hear is advice,” the source said. “Wash your hands often, gargle with salt water, and drink ginger tea or magnolia berry tea.” People are angry and asking how long the authorities will keep pushing these folk remedies, according to the source. “They say the state must find the cause so patients get a proper diagnosis and treatment.”
Magnolia berry tea, brewed from the dried fruit of the Schisandra vine, is a traditional Korean cough remedy. North Koreans have mocked such advice before, as when they scoffed at a government saltwater remedy in an earlier campaign.
Respiratory illness drives North Koreans to markets and hospitals
Demand for cold medicine at local markets has also surged in recent weeks, the source said. Many sick North Koreans still skip the hospital and visit a private medicine trader instead. They describe their symptoms to the trader, then buy and take whatever drug the trader recommends.
These traders work in the jangmadang, the private markets that grew out of the 1990s famine. Today these markets supply most of the goods that ordinary North Koreans buy. Despite claims of free health care, many North Koreans turn to private markets for medicine. There, soaring drug prices often force families to go without.
A growing number of North Koreans, however, now head to hospitals after market medicine fails them. Many are learning that self-medicating without a proper diagnosis has clear limits. Fears that the illness may be more than a simple cold are also driving people to seek care.
“At first, people figured it was just a cold and bought medicine at the market,” the source said. “When the cough dragged on and nothing improved, many rushed to the hospital in a panic, and now the hospitals are getting busy too.”
Earlier this year, a flu outbreak overwhelmed North Korean hospitals as young children developed pneumonia. Kim Jong Un declared a “revolution in public health” in February 2025 and pledged modern hospitals nationwide. Critics argue, however, that the campaign’s first year focused on state control rather than patient care.
“People now feel it’s better to have a doctor confirm the illness first, even if they buy medicine at the market,” the source said. “Even those who used to brush off colds now want an accurate diagnosis when symptoms drag on.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
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November 6, 2026 at 05:38PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)