SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered the execution of at least two people, banned fishing at sea and locked up the capital Pyongyang as part of efforts to protect against the coronavirus and its economic damage, South Korea said. The spy agency told lawmakers Friday.
The legislators told reporters after attending a private briefing by the National Intelligence Service that even Kim’s government had ordered diplomats abroad to refrain from any acts that could provoke the United States.
Ha Tai-keng, a legislator, quoted NIS as saying that Kim was displaying “excessive anger” over the epidemic and its economic impact and was taking “irrational action”.
Hae said NISA told lawmakers that North Korea killed a high-profile money changer in Pyongyang last month. He also quoted NIS as saying that North Korea had also hanged a key official in August Gust for violating government rules banning imports. Both men were not identified.
North Korea has also banned fishing and salt production at sea to prevent seawater from becoming infected with the virus, NISA told lawmakers.
North Korea has recently locked down Pyongyang and North Jungang province due to virus concerns. Earlier this month, it imposed lockdown measures in other areas where officers had brought unauthorized goods, the NA said.
North Korea also made unsuccessful attempts at hacking at least one South Korean pharmaceutical company that was trying to develop a coronavirus vaccine, the NIS said.
The agency has a mixed record of confirming developments in North Korea, one of the world’s most secretive countries.
The NIS said it could not immediately confirm the legislators’ comments.
North Korea has maintained that it has not found a single case of the virus on its soil, which has been disputed by outside experts, although it says it is making every effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus. A major outbreak can have dire consequences as the northern health care system remains crippled and suffers from an acute shortage of medical supplies.
The epidemic forced North Korea to seal its border with China, its largest trading partner and aid beneficiary, in June. The closure, along with a series of natural disasters this summer, has hit the northern economy hard, subject to U.S.-led sanctions.
North’s trade with China in the first 10 months of this year was $ 530 million, up 25% from the same figure last year. Yes and quoting NIS said the price of sugar and crops has quadrupled.
North Korean watchdog groups in Seoul said North Korea’s win-to-dollar exchange rate has dropped significantly recently as China has cut off many areas for people to use large amounts of foreign currency after smuggling across the border.
According to the NIS briefing, North Korea ordered the foreign diplomatic mission not to provoke the United States, warning its diplomats of consequences if their remarks or actions regarding the US cause any trouble in relations with Washington.
The North Korean government is silent on Biden’s election victory over President Donald Trump, with Kim Jong Un holding three unprecedented summits on the future of the North’s nuclear arsenal in 2018-19. Even when diplomacy finally stalled, the meetings prevented Kim and Trump from building personal relationships and making threats of crude insults and destruction that they had previously replaced.
MLA Kim Byang-ki has quoted NIS as saying that North Korea is showing concern as its friendly relations with Trump have been strained and that it will have to start dealing with the incoming Biden administration from the beginning.
Experts are debating whether North Korea will soon resume a major missile test or try to draw Biden’s attention. U.S. During the past change of government in North Korea, in order to increase its advantage in future negotiations with the new US administration, North Korea launched large arms.
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