Name: Coronavirus: South Korea agency says North Korea executed people, shut capital
Brand: smh.com.au
SKU: smh-com-au-276
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

Coronavirus: South Korea agency says North Korea executed people, shut capital

preview

South Korean agency says North Korea executed people, shut capitalWe’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.DismisscloseAdvertisementBy Log in, or to save articles for later.Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text sizeAdvertisementSeoul: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered at least two people executed, banned fishing at sea and locked down the capital, Pyongyang, as part of frantic efforts to guard against the coronavirus and its economic damage, South Korea's spy agency has told MPs.Kim's government also ordered diplomats overseas to refrain from any acts that could provoke the United States because it is worried about President-elect Joe Biden's expected new approach towards North Korea, MPs told reporters on Friday, Seoul time, after attending a private briefing by the National Intelligence Service.One of the MPs, Ha Tae-keung, quoted the NIS as saying Kim is displaying "excessive anger" and taking "irrational measures" over the pandemic and its economic impact.Ha said the NIS told MPs the North executed a high-profile money changer in Pyongyang last month after holding the person responsible for a falling exchange rate. He quoted the NIS as saying that North Korea also executed a key official in August for violating government regulations restricting goods brought from abroad. The two people weren't identified by name.North Korea has also banned fishing and salt production at sea to prevent seawater from being infected with the virus, the NIS told MPs.There are few ways to independently confirm the reported fishing ban and other information given by the NIS to the MPs. Ha didn't say whether the ban applied to all North Korean waters or whether it was still in effect.North Korea recently placed Pyongyang and northern Jagang province under lockdown over virus concerns. Earlier this month, it imposed lockdown measures in other areas where officials found unauthorised goods and foreign currencies that were brought in, Ha cited the NIS as saying.North Korea also on at least one South Korean pharmaceutical company that was trying to develop a coronavirus vaccine, the NIS said.AdvertisementBritish security sources on Saturday said North Korean hackers also targeted AstraZeneca, the drugmaker working with Oxford University to develop its vaccine. Hackers approached staff with fake job offers, using LinkedIn and WhatsApp, and sent documents including malicious code, designed to give them access to computer systems.The UK National Cyber Security Centre declined to give further detail but did not deny attempts had been made by the rogue state to steal vaccine secrets. North Korea's mission to the UN declined to respond to a request for comment.The agency has a mixed record in confirming developments in North Korea, one of the world's most secretive nations. The NIS said it couldn't immediately confirm the MPs' accounts.North Korea has maintained that it hasn't found a single coronavirus case on its soil, a claim disputed by outside experts, although it says it is making all-out efforts to prevent the virus' spread. A major outbreak could have dire consequences because the North's healthcare system remains crippled and suffers from a chronic lack of medical supplies.The pandemic forced North Korea to seal its border with China, its biggest trading partner and aid benefactor, in January. The closure, along with a series of natural disasters over the summer, dealt a heavy blow to the North's economy, which has been under punishing US-led sanctions.North Korea's trade with China in the first 10 months of this year totalled $US530 million ($717 million), about 25 per cent of the corresponding figure last year. The price of sugar and seasoning has shot up four times, Ha quoted the NIS as saying.North Korea monitoring groups in Seoul said the North Korean won-to-dollar exchange rate has recently fallen significantly because people found few places to use foreign currency after smuggling was largely cut off following the closure of the China border.According to the NIS briefing, North Korea ordered overseas diplomatic missions not to provoke the United States, warning their ambassadors of consequences if their comments or acts related to the US cause any trouble in ties with Washington.North Korea's government has remained silent over Biden's election victory over President Donald Trump, with whom Kim held three summits in 2018-19 over the North's nuclear arsenal. While the diplomacy eventually stalled, the meetings helped Kim and Trump build up personal ties and stop the crude insults and threats of destruction they had previously exchanged.MP Kim Byung-kee cited the NIS as saying that North Korea is displaying anxiety as its friendly ties with Trump become useless and it has to start from scratch in dealing with the incoming Biden administration.Experts have been debating whether North Korea will resume major missile tests soon to try to get Biden's attention. During past government changes in the US, North Korea often conducted big weapons launches in an attempt to increase its leverage in negotiations with a new US administration.The NIS expects North Korea will hold a military parade ahead of a ruling party congress in January in a show of force timed with Biden's inauguration. North Korea is also likely to use the Workers' Party congress to lay out its basic policies toward the US, Kim Byung-kee cited the NIS as saying.Kim Jong-un has said the congress, the first of its kind in four years, will set new state objectives for the next five years. In a highly unusual admission of its policy failure in August, the Workers' Party said North Korea's economy had not improved due to severe internal and external barriers and that its previous developmental goals had been seriously delayed.AP; The Telegraph, LondonOur Morning Edition newsletter is a curated guide to the most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up to The Sydney Morning Herald’s newsletter , The Age’s , Brisbane Times’ , and WAtoday’s .Log in, or to save articles for later.Advertisement

South Korean agency says North Korea executed people, shut capitalWe’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.DismisscloseAdvertisementBy Log in, or to save articles for later.Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text sizeAdvertisementSeoul: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered at least two people executed, banned fishing at sea and locked down the capital, Pyongyang, as part of frantic efforts to guard against the coronavirus and its economic damage, South Korea's spy agency has told MPs.Kim's government also ordered...

public

Hyung-Jin Kim

The Sydney Morning Herald - Australia's leading news source. Independent. Always.

Coronavirus: South Korea agency says North Korea executed people, shut capital

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS