North Korea has executed citizens for violating COVID-19 quarantine rules during the pandemic, according to recent defector testimony in a new report.

A defector who came to South Korea in 2023 said that “North Korean authorities gathered residents together and publicly executed those who violated quarantine measures,” the Korean Institute for National Unification (KINU) states in its annual white paper on DPRK human rights released this week.

The defector’s testimony appears to be the first evidence that North Korea has actually carried out executions for violating quarantine rules, after exclusive NK News reporting found that authorities issued a noticethreatening