![FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2020 file photo, people wear masks to protect from a new coronavirus as they walk through the Kwangbok Street in Pyongyang, North Korea. As a new and frightening virus closes in around it, North Korea presents itself as a fortress, tightening its borders as cadres of health officials stage a monumental disinfection and monitoring program. (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin, File)](https://hagadone.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/AP_303039974_EP_-1_DVQJANQXKFWB_t1170.jpg?5cc718665ab672dba93d511ab4c682bb370e5f86)
FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2020 file photo, people wear masks to protect from a new coronavirus as they walk through the Kwangbok Street in Pyongyang, North Korea. As a new and frightening virus closes in around it, North Korea presents itself as a fortress, tightening its borders as cadres of health officials stage a monumental disinfection and monitoring program. (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin, File)
March 3, 2020
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March 3, 2020 6:42 a.m.
North Korean swagger may conceal brewing virus disaster
TOKYO (AP) — In these days of infection and fear, a recent propaganda photo sums up the image North Korea wants to show the world, as well as its people: Soldiers with black surgical masks surround leader Kim Jong Un, ensconced in a leather overcoat and without a mask as he oversees a defiant military drill.