Kim Jong Inoculated

North Korea leader Kim Jong-un and his family have been inoculated with an experimental coronavirus vaccine supplied by China, U.S. analysts say.

An analyst at the Washington-based Center for the National Interest think tank said that China has given the North Korean leader access to its experimental vaccine. The think tank, which cited anonymous Japanese intelligence agents, said that several high-ranking North Korean officials had also received the vaccine.

"Kim Jong-un and multiple other high-ranking officials within the Kim family and leadership network have been vaccinated for coronavirus within the last two to three weeks thanks to a vaccine candidate supplied by the Chinese government," the center said in a published report.

The report did not elaborate on which Chinese company had developed the vaccine and whether or not it had been proven to be effective in treating the disease. There are currently three major Chinese pharmaceutical companies developing vaccine candidates for the coronavirus, namely CanSino Bio, China National Pharmaceutical Group, and Sinovac Biotech.

Choi Jung-hun, an infectious disease expert and a North Korean defector challenged the report's claims. He said that it was very unlikely that Kim Jong Un would risk taking a vaccine that has not yet been proven to be effective. Choi added that Kim has access to millions of test subjects and numerous shelters that can ensure his family's isolation from the disease.

"Even if a Chinese vaccine had already been approved, no drug is perfect and he would not take that risk when he has numerous shelters which can ensure almost complete isolation," Choi said.

North Korean experts agreed with Choi's take on the issue and said that Kim Jong Un was more likely to take a vaccine developed by European companies.

Suspected North Korean hackers reportedly attempted to break into the computer network of British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca last week. The pharmaceutical company recently announced that its vaccine candidate was proven to be highly effective in treating the disease.

The attack was reportedly a part of a global hacking campaign by the reclusive country in an attempt to gain more information regarding the progress of the development of an effective coronavirus vaccine.