An official in North Korea has reportedly been executed after breaching the country's strict rules surrounding coronavirus.

North Korea Leader Kim Jong-un had set the rules surrounding those who had returned from China, according to reports.

He then ordered them into a quarantine, but according to Korean news outlet Wikitree, an official was executed after he was spotted at public baths.

The method of execution was by shooting, the report adds.

The quarantine applied to individuals who had visited China in the past 30 days after the outbreak started there.


The coronavirus broke out in Wuhan at the end of last year, with the majority of deaths and cases in China.

The total death toll now stands at 1,350 and more than 60,000 confirmed as being diagnosed.

It has also emerged that North Korea has suspended entry and exit for employees on diplomatic missions following the outbreak.

The Russian embassy in Pyongyang said in a statement on Facebook: "The DPRK Foreign Ministry informs that the quarantine and medical supervision period established for employees of diplomatic missions and representative offices of international organisations is extended until March 1, 2020.

"In addition, the provisions of the DPRK Foreign Ministry note No. 976 of February 4, 2020 on the entry and exit procedures expire, and moving through border crossings temporarily suspended."

The statement added the measures would be extended for 30 days.


The Red Cross called for an urgent exemption from sanctions on North Korea on Thursday to help prevent an outbreak of the coronavirus, following an epidemic in neighbouring China.

"We know that there is urgent need of personal protective gear and testing kits, items which will be vital to prepare for a possible outbreak," Xavier Castellanos, Asia Pacific director for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies (IFRC) said in a statement.

An exemption allowing for a bank transfer to the IFRC country office in North Korea "is essential as a life-saving

intervention," he added. "There is currently no other mode available for humanitarian intervention and we must act now."

International sanctions bar a wide range of business, trade, and other interactions with North Korea. The sanctions were imposed over the country's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, which were developed in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions.