In this Feb. 10, 2018, file photo, IOC president Thomas Bach, second from left, and Kim Yo Jong, right, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, talk with players after the preliminary round of the women’s hockey game between Switzerland and the combined Koreas at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea. (AP Photo)
SEOUL--North Korea, citing the coronavirus, has become the world’s first country to drop out of the Tokyo Olympics.
It’s true that the North is extremely sensitive about COVID-19, knowing that a widespread outbreak in a country with an already battered health system could be disaster.