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North Korea orders 'shoot on sight' at China border to stem Covid-19 spread: 'No one will be held responsible'

Police officials, in the city of Hoeryong, announced that they would shoot and kill anyone seen close to the border 'regardless of their reason for being there'
UPDATED SEP 2, 2020
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

North Korea has reportedly ordered its soldiers and police to "shoot on sight" anyone seen within half a mile of the country's border with China in an effort to stop the spread of coronavirus. RFA reports state that its Pyongyang sources learned of the draconian new measures in the hermit national less than a day before it came into effect at midnight on Thursday, August 27 last week. 

Police officials, in the city of Hoeryong, reportedly announced that they would shoot and kill anyone seen close to the border "regardless of their reason for being there," the outlet reported. Police are reportedly being enforced along the entire 880-mile border until the end of the deadly coronavirus pandemic in an attempt to prevent transmission of the virus through contact with people from China. 

In an attempt to enforce the new ruthless policy, the North Korea government is sending ammunition to the police. The outlet also reported sources as claiming that "no one will be held responsible for shooting deaths'" that occur within the specified distance.   

Although the two countries have closed off their borders and suspended trade, the frontier has reportedly remained porous considering the North Korean economy relies on goods being smuggled in and out of China, the outlet reported. Recently, a refugee who had earlier escaped from the country succeeded in returning, leaving the nation's Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un furious. Kim, as a result, disbanded the military unit that was in charge of the part of the border the refugee crossed. 

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attending a wreath laying ceremony at the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum on March 2, 2019 in Hanoi, Vietnam. (Getty Images)

RFA, in its report, also stated that special forces troops had also been sent at the border to "assist," however, their primary job was to watch the guards for corruption. It was earlier reported that smugglers were paying guards for them to turn a blind eye when shipments in the region were received or sent. 

"The emergency order stipulates that soldiers on border guard duty will leave behind their blank shots and carry only live ammunition," a source told the outlet. "The authorities have sent the notorious special forces to the border area [to watch the border guard units] and now they are ordering the units to fire upon their mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers with live ammunition."

North Korea is the only nation in the world that claims to be "free" from the deadly coronavirus. The hermit nation, months after the worldwide spread of the virus, has not yet reported a single case of Covid-19 and claims to be serious about maintaining its "virus-free" status. Experts, however, have cast doubts over Pyongyang's claims. Some reports even stated that senior health officials in the country were fired for failing to contain the spread of the virus after reports that it was spreading in three separate parts of the country, including its capital Pyongyang.

The North Korean public was recently told that "the enemy is trying to infiltrate the border by sending the virus across it" as officials in the country talked of the need to raise awareness about the issue in the country. They have reportedly even discussed to establish a system of reporting unusual activity near the countries' borders

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