Covid 19 coronavirus: North Korea executes man for violating quarantine rules

North Korea has publicly executed a citizen for violating “emergency quarantine measures.”

According to Radio Free Asia (RFA), a North Korean citizen was executed by firing squad shots after the man was charged with smuggling with his Chinese business partners.

The public execution was reportedly ordered in an effort to scare other citizens into strict compliance with emergency quarantine measures in the country.

North Korea, which shares a 1,300-kilometer border with China, claims it is Covid-free, but the totalitarian regime has implemented a series of severe lockdown restrictions used to stop the spread of the virus, including a travel ban between provinces.

Smugglers who make a living bringing Chinese goods to North Korea have overlooked the closure of the border between the two countries, leading to the introduction of stricter rules.

“Since the end of November, the Central Committee [of the Korean Workers’ Party] “They have elevated existing emergency quarantine measures to ‘ultra-high-level’ emergency quarantine measures,” a resident of North Pyongan province, on the border with China in the country’s northwest, told the Service this week. Korean from RFA.

“The public execution occurred because the victim was accused of violating the quarantine just before the high-level emergency measures took effect around November 20. A man in his 50s who tried to smuggle with Chinese business partners was shot. as an example on November 28, “added the source.

The source said they did not attend the public execution, but discussed it with a witness, who said the shooting was moved out of the victim’s home county, near the border, to prevent news from leaking to China.

Citizens are increasingly scared by the control measures imposed by the government, a North Pyongan official told RFA.

“While protecting the border seamlessly from the ground, air and sea, the authorities ordered the soldiers to shoot unconditionally at anyone who approached the border, regardless of who the person was or the reason they were in the area. zone. It is an absolute threat to the residents of the border zone, “said the second source.

“The Central Committee’s order to sound the alarm means that we must warn the people that those who violate the rules will be executed by firing squad. Even during the Arduous March of the 1990s, when mass desertions continued, the The government did not threaten the residents of the border area like that, “added the second source, referring to the 1994-1998 famine that killed millions of North Koreans.

The person added that public executions are not a rare method for the North Korean government to scare people into complying.