The U.S. should work with China and Russia to convince North Korea to allow international COVID-19 aid and expertise into the country, the director of a major Korea-focused think tank said Friday, citing what health experts say are the risks of new variants emerging from unchecked transmission.

Troy Stangarone of the Korea Economic Institute of America (KEIA) told NK News in an interview that the COVID-19 situation in North Korea poses a “real” and “immediate” concern.

“The fact that they’ve acknowledged that COVID is there and that it’s spreading is the key factor,” he said, adding that the outside world