A North Korean official has been executed for going to a public bath while he was meant to be in quarantine, a report in the South has claimed.

The trade official was arrested and immediately shot after risking the spread of coronavirus by visiting the public bath, the Dong-a Ilbo newspaper reported.

The official had been placed in isolation after travelling to China, with Kim Jong-un imposing military law to enforce the lockdown, sources said.

North Korea has not yet confirmed any cases of the virus, but has taken drastic measures to stop it spreading over its border with China.

North Korean Premier Kim Jae Ryon, right top, has a meeting at the emergency anti-epidemic headquarter in Pyongyang, North Korea, yeterday

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

From ex-girlfriends to 'missing' relatives , previous high-profile North Korean executions Singer Hyon Song Wol, 2013 South Korean media claimed in 2013 that singer Hyon Song Wol had been executed by firing squad in a salacious sex tape scandal. One newspaper even described her as Kim Jong-un's 'ex-girlfriend'. However, she was very much alive and later emerged as a key member of Kim's government, accompanying him in his meetings with Donald Trump. Kim's uncle Jang Song Thaek, 2013 Kim's uncle was executed in 2013 after a special military tribunal found him guilty of treason. South Korea's spy agency had initially revealed the purge, saying that Jang had been removed from office and an aide sentenced to death. In a rare public admission, North Korea subsequently confirmed the purge and announced that Jang himself had been executed. Official media claimed Jang had been plotting to seize power since the death of Kim's father Kim Jong-il in 2011. Military chief Ri Yong Gil, 2016 Seoul intelligence officials claimed in 2016 that military chief Ri Yong Gil had been condemned to death for corruption and other charges. The report appeared to be bolstered when official updates described someone else as chief of general staff, indicating that Ri had lost his job. However, state media later said that Ri was still alive and in possession of several new senior posts. Ri later returned to his post as chief of the military staff in 2018. Vice premier Kim Yong Jin, 2016 Claims of Kim Yong Jin's death came straight from officials at Seoul's Unification Ministry in 2016. Seoul said that Kim was executed by firing squad for unspecified anti-revolutionary and factional acts. He had also allegedly sparked anger for not keeping his posture upright at a public event. North Korea has not confirmed or denied the report, but Kim has never reappeared in public. Nuclear negotiator Kim Yong Chol, 2019 A South Korean newspaper reported last May that the North's top nuclear negotiator Kim Yong Chol had been exiled to hard labour after a failed summit with Trump. The report claimed that senior envoy Kim Hyok Chol was executed in the same purge. The claim about Kim Yong Chol's exile proved false within days when official media published pictures of him sitting at a concert just a few seats away from Kim Jong-un. Experts said the pictures also cast serious doubt on the claim of Kim Hyok Chol's execution, because he was the more junior official. Advertisement

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 have 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 said to have been exiled to a North Korean farm after trying to cover 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 in public.

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 have been reduced with road and rail links either closed or heavily restricted, while foreign tourists have been banned.

The DMZ between North and South Korea is already heavily fortified and very few people cross it in any case.

Pyongyang has also suspended operations at a liaison office it has jointly run with South Korea located just north of the border.

State media reported that North Korea's Red Cross Society had deployed to 'relevant areas' around the country to monitor people with possible symptoms.

'They are conducting information activities in various forms and by various methods at public places to introduce common medical knowledge about the epidemic and encourage people to give fuller play to the noble moral traits of helping and leading each other forward,' KCNA reported.

Tens of thousands of North Korean workers were believed to be working in China before a UN order for Beijing to send them back home expired in December.

It was unknown how many of them have returned home.

World Health Organisation officials based in Pyongyang have said they are not aware of any confirmed cases.

However, some South Korean media outlets have reported multiple cases and even possible deaths from the virus in the North.

North Korea took similar tough quarantine measures during the 2002-03 spread of SARS, which also began in China.

The North did not report any SARS cases at the time, according to the South Korean government.