[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] U.S. President Donald Trump unexpectedly questioned the credibility of South Korea's COVID-19 related death statistics.
In an interview on the documentary news program 'Axios on HBO' aired on the night of the 3rd (local time), when journalist Jonathan Swan repeatedly emphasized South Korea's success in quarantine and mentioned the death rate relative to the population, Trump abruptly said, "That I don't know. That I don't know," repeating the phrase.
When Swan asked, "Are you saying South Korea fabricated the statistics?" President Trump replied, "I won't go into details because I have a very good relationship with that country (South Korea)."
Without any basis or specific mention, he subtly raised suspicion by implying that South Korea's death statistics might be understated.
He also claimed, "But that I don't know. And they (South Korea) are showing a rapid increase."
The Washington Post (WP) reported that President Trump implied South Korea was hiding the actual number of deaths, calling it "nonsense," and explained that South Korea's low number of confirmed cases and deaths is due to frequent and early testing, having contained the virus last spring and eradicated new outbreaks when they appeared.
Axios also reported that when President Trump continued to face pressing questions about South Korea's more successful COVID-19 response, he seemed to indicate distrust in South Korea's COVID-19 data, but experts, international authorities, and the U.S. have never raised any serious issues regarding the accuracy of South Korea's figures.
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