North Korea's epidemic prevention centre said a soldier and a 5-year kindergartener had contact with "alien things” in the town in early April and later tested positive for the Omicron variant.
Plan to form US-Japan-South Korea military alliance "is evidently a dangerous prelude to creation of Asian version of NATO", says KCNA news agency.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has also ordered steps to be taken to “enhance the operational capabilities of the frontline units.”
The launch comes eight months after the first test failed to put a dummy satellite into orbit.
The new outbreak puts further strain on the isolated country as it battles chronic food shortages and a wave of Covid-19 infections.
Some observers say the new “enteric epidemic” in North Korea refers to an infectious disease like typhoid, dysentery or cholera, which are illnesses caused by germs via contaminated food and water.
The situation on the Korean peninsula poses a global threat, South Korean Defence Minister Lee Jong-sup says at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a top regional security summit.
The veteran diplomat served as a close aide to Kim Jong Un during nuclear talks with the United States and accompanied the North Korean leader to summits with then US president Donald Trump.
Winning a seat on the 15-member Security Council is considered a pinnacle of achievement for many countries because it gives them a strong voice on issues of international peace and security.
Close allies China and Russia reiterated their opposition to more sanctions, blaming the United States for rising tensions on the Korean peninsula.
Following missile tests by the North Korean regime and speculation that Pyongyang could be planning a nuclear test, South Korea and the United States fly 20 jets as a show of force.
Allies launch ground-to-ground ATACMS missiles at targets in the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, says Seoul's military.
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