North Korea executes patient for risking spread of coronavirus

SEOUL: North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un allegedly sanctioned for the execution of the first patient tested positive for the deadly coronavirus.

According to Secret Beijing, an anonymous social media commentator, who terms himself as an analyst on China affairs, said the patient who had recently returned from China was shot dead.

According to South Korean media, the victim went to a public bathroom while under quarantine and was later shot dead for risking the spread of coronavirus in the country.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has vowed that anyone who leaves the quarantine process without permission will be “ruled by military law”.

There is no confirmation on the report as North Korea has not reported a single case, even though it is suggested that there are people showing suspected symptoms of the highly contagious virus.

North Korea informed the World Health Organisation that it had tested 141 suspected cases of coronavirus and all came up negative. South Korean media have reported cases of COVID-19 in North Korea, some of them fatal.

South Korea’s largest newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, reported that there were at least two suspected cases in the city of Sinuiju which borders China. Another daily citing reported that as many as five people had died of the novel coronavirus in the same city.

North Korea has shut down its border and cut transport links with China. Foreigners visiting the reclusive country are being kept under quarantine for thirty days, while foreign diplomats and international organisation staff have been restricted in their movement across Pyongyang.

This has raised doubts that Pyongyang may be concealing an epidemic. It is rumoured that the fear of the coronavirus that has also kept the North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, who has not been seen since January, from appearing in public.

WHO officials have claimed that the North Koreans have asked for supplies such as disposable gowns, gloves, and hazmat suits raising fears that the country may have cases of COVID 19.

On 26th February, the United Nations Special Rapporteur in North Korea, Tomás Ojea Quintana, urged North Korea and the international community to join forces to prevent a COVID-19 outbreak in the country.