N.Korea blames 'alien things' near border with S.Korea for COVID outbreak

People watch a TV broadcasting a news report on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in North Korea, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, May 17, 2022. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo

SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea claimed on Friday the country's first COVID outbreak began with patients touching "alien things" near the border with South Korea, apparently shifting blame to the neighbour for the wave of infections that hit the isolated country.

Announcing its probe results, the North ordered its people to "vigilantly deal with alien things coming by wind and other climate phenomena and balloons in the areas along the demarcation line and borders."