North Korea publicly executes a citizen for breaking Covid rules

North Korea held a public execution by firing squad to punish a breach of coronavirus rules, insiders in the country say.

A man accused of smuggling across the sealed-off Chinese border was shot dead on November 28 in order to scare people into following the rules, according to Radio Free Asia.

While North Korea officially claims it has never had a case of Covid-19, Kim Jong-un's regime has brought in 'ultra-high-level emergency quarantine measures' and troops have been ordered to shoot trespassers at the Chinese border, sources say.

'They held a public execution by firing squad to threaten residents here in the border area, because there's been a lot of contact with people on the other side of the border, including a lot of smuggling,' one source said.

The person sentenced to death was described as a man in his 50s who was accused of smuggling with Chinese business partners across a border which has been closed for most of 2020.

China is North Korea's biggest trading partner and aid benefactor, but trade between the two has slumped by 75 per cent because of the pandemic.

Fearful that smugglers could bring in the virus, Kim's regime has beefed up its military presence at the border to enforce the restrictions.

Pyongyang has also dispatched special units to check on border guards and make sure they are not involved in smuggling themselves, it is claimed.

Another source said the public execution was typical of the regime's efforts to scare people into submission.

'Whenever the people complain because their livelihoods are affected, the authorities always try to... (Read more)

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