There are reports that North Korea has forced hundreds of people to witness the executions of two people caught reading South Korean propaganda.

South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper is reporting that a North Korean woman was sentenced to die after being caught reading a propaganda leaflet from the South.

A high ranking military officer was also charged with pocketing dollar bills sent with the leaflets which were floated into North Korea by South Korean activists using helium balloons.

The paper says 500 people were rounded up and forced to watch the executions.

It is reported that the families of the two were then sent to a political prisoners' camp.