Updated on May 16 at 10:00 a.m. KST with details on COVID-19 case numbers nationwide

Pharmacies in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang are ill-equipped to provide medicine amid a severe COVID-19 outbreak, leader Kim Jong Un reportedly said at a “consultative” politburo meeting Sunday, according to state media.

Due to problems providing medicine to those experiencing symptoms, Kim reportedly ordered the military to release medicine and “stabilize” Pyongyang’s drug supply by “involving the powerful forces of the military medical field of the People’s Army.”

He also directly criticized the director of