In a ruthless move by Supreme leader Kim Jong-un, troops must open fire on anyone who goes within half a mile of the country’s border with China, according to incendiary reports.
This terrifying order comes after the dictator previously claimed North Korea is free of the global pandemic and said he isn’t worried about it.
However, he backtracked on his comments last month and said it “could have entered” the country.
A resident of the Hamgyong province said the policy “will be in effect along the entire North Korea-China border” until the pandemic is over.
They said: “Police in the city of Hoeryong issued an emergency notice from the Ministry of Social Security, saying they would kill anyone within a kilometre of the North Korea-China border regardless of their reason for being there.
“After announcing the declaration, the police department told the public, ‘The coronavirus has spread everywhere except our country, so the enemy is trying to infiltrate the border by sending the virus across it’.
“They stressed the need to raise awareness among the border area residents and establish a system to report strangers and activities of the enemy.”
According to Radio Free Asia, the ban applies to the 880-mile border between the two countries.
Police have reportedly been sent additional ammunition to help enforce the draconian policy.
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Despite not declaring any COVID-19 cases, the city of Kaesong was placed into lockdown for three weeks after a suspected infection.
The Supreme leader has now declared a national emergency and banned all travel between provinces.
More lockdown measures were introduced after a man claimed to have symptoms but the World Health Organisation said his results are inconclusive.
North Korea and China suspended trade and closed their border at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in January.
But Kim’s country has been plunged into crisis as the market economy relies heavily on goods in and out of China.
Since then, there have been several reports of incidents related to the smuggling of goods or movement of people across the border.
China was considered to be the epicentre of the global pandemic after cases were first reported in the city of Wuhan.
According to Chinese authorities, the virus passed between animals and humans through a meat market in the city.
Since the outbreak began last year, more than 24,000,000 people have been infected.
The global death toll has now surpassed 800,000.