UN asks N Korea to clarify alleged shoot-on-sight orders

By KIM TONG-HYUNG
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — U.N. human rights investigators have asked North Korea to clarify whether it has ordered troops to shoot on sight any trespassers who cross its northern border in violation of the country’s pandemic closure. The border shared with China and Russia was a transit point for smuggled goods. A U.S. Army general last year said North Korean special forces had “shoot-to-kill orders” against smugglers to prevent the coronavirus from entering. The letter from the U.N. special rapporteurs is posted on the website of the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. They also asked North Korea to confirm that the distribution of South Korean cultural products or sexual content was made punishable by death.