North Korea 'executes trade official for visiting a public bath while he was in quarantine over coronavirus fears after coming back from China'
South Korean media said the trade official was arrested and immediately shot
Kim Jong-un has imposed law to enforce the coronavirus quarantine
North Korea has no confirmed cases but has taken strict quarantine measures
A North Korean official has been executed for getting to a public bath while he was meant to be in quarantine, a report within the South has claimed.
The trade official was arrested and immediately shot after risking the spread of coronavirus by visiting the general public bath, the Dong-a Ilbo newspaper reported.
The official had been placed in isolation after travelling to China, with Kim Jong-un imposing law to enforce the lockdown, sources said.
North Korea has not yet confirmed any cases of the virus, but has taken drastic measures to prevent it spreading over its border with China.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (pictured) has imposed drastic quarantine measures - which reportedly led to a trade official's execution for visiting a public bath
The trade official was reportedly quarantined under a policy of isolating anyone who had been to China or had contact with Chinese people.
He is said to possess fallen foul of a decree by Kim Jong-un which vowed to 'rule by military law' against anyone who left quarantine without approval.
Another official is claimed to possess been exiled to a North Korean farm after trying to hide up his travels to China.
The second official was reportedly a member of the secretive kingdom's National Security Agency.
Claims of blundering officials being purged or executed are common in North Korea and are very hard to verify.
Last year, widespread rumours that a top official had been exiled over a failed summit with Donald Trump proved incorrect when he appeared with Kim publicly .
Yesterday Pyongyang announced that quarantines had been extended to 30 days, beyond the 14-day period recommended by world health bosses.
Government institutions and foreigners living in North Korea were expected to obey it 'unconditionally', North Korean media said.
North Korea has almost completely closed the border with China, its only major diplomatic ally.
Flights are reduced with road and rail links either closed or heavily restricted, while foreign tourists are banned.
The DMZ between North and South Korea is already heavily fortified and really few people cross it in any case.
Pyongyang has also suspended operations at a liaison office it's jointly run with South Korea located just north of the border.
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