Why North Korea is so freaked out about Ebola

last updated 8 January 2015

Whatever you think of the U.S.'s response to Ebola, we can all agree that North Korea has probably gone a tad too far. Despite having no reported cases of the virus, North Korea is reportedly quarantining anyone entering the country from anywhere on Earth.

Now, we have come to expect weirdness from the Hermit Kingdom. But there is a method to the madness, which is to highlight how scary the world is out there — a world kept at bay by the benevolent regime of Kim Jong Un. As The New York Times reports:

North Korea, one of the world's most isolated countries, often expresses fears of threats from other nations — mainly those from the United States and South Korea — and lectures its people frequently about those threats. According to The Associated Press, a high-level delegation from Japan was greeted this week by a group that included two people in full hazardous-material gear. [The New York Times]

As the Times notes, there have been no cases of Ebola in Japan.