Husband and wife are executed by firing squad after trying to flee North Korea amid country's coronavirus quarantine

A husband and wife have been executed by firing squad after being caught trying to flee North Korea with their 14-year-old nephew.

The couple, thought to be in their 50s, were trying to escape from their home in Hyensan, Ryanggang province amid the country's strict coronavirus quarantine, according to reports.

The couple wanted to bring their teenage nephew back to his parents in South Korea, locals speaking under anonymity told RFA Korean Service. 

One said: 'Earlier this month I heard from an acquaintance in the provincial security department that a family who tried to escape the country was shot to death.

'They were arrested for attempting to escape [across] the border, which is now heavily controlled due to the national emergency quarantine against the coronavirus.'

The couple, thought to be in their 50s, were trying to escape from their home in Hyensan, Ryanggang province, to the South amid the country's strict coronavirus quarantine. Pictured, file image shows tractors crossing the vast Kaektu plain in Ryanggang province

The boy was the son of the wife's younger brother, who had previously fled to the South, reports added.

He escaped execution because of his age but his uncle and aunt were shot without a trial after being tortured into admitting their plans, it was claimed.

The story of their death has spread around the region through word of mouth. 

Before their escape attempt the couple had been having difficulties with their business because of the affect of coronavirus lockdown, locals said.

One said they were planning on fleeing across the Yalu river into China, before making their way South, but were arrested before they made it that far. 

North Korean authorities have denied the existence of coronavirus outbreaks but have lectured citizens internally about pockets of infection, including in the capital Pyongyang. 

North Korean Premier Kim Jae Ryon, right top, has a meeting at the emergency anti-epidemic headquarter in Pyongyang, North Korea, in February

In February North Korean officials were pictured holding a meeting wearing face masks, despite claims there were no infections.

It came after a report from South Korea accused the regime of executing an official for flouting quarantine procedure to visit a public bath. 

North Korea has not yet confirmed any cases of the virus, but has closed the land border with China, which reported a total of 4,634 deaths from the outbreak - although it is widely believed the true extent of deaths has been covered up.

Experts fear that Kim Jong-Un's regime is covering up its infection rate to not appear weak in the eyes of the international community.  

'There is no way that North Korea is not being impacted by the coronavirus — they are clearly lying as they don’t want to show any weakness or that there is any threat to the regime,' Harry Kazianis, director of Korean Studies at the Center for National Interest, told Fox News. 

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (pictured) imposed drastic quarantine measures - which reportedly led to a trade official's execution for visiting a public bath  

'Considering how there are many porous sections of the North Korea-China border — and how the Kim regime depends on illegal trade to survive — it is clear the virus has come to North Korea.' 

Some South Korean media outlets have reported multiple cases of the new coronavirus, formally known as COVID-19, and even possible deaths in the North.    

Nagi Shafik, former project manager for WHO in Pyongyang, told the South China Morning Post that many women and children don't have enough to eat, leaving them malnourished, which means the virus would be able to pick them off easily. 

He added that the country lacks basic medications, such as antibiotics, and that they are especially difficult to obtain in rural areas.    

Fears of a cover-up operation come as a trade official was arrested and immediately shot after risking the spread of coronavirus by visiting the public bath, the South Korean Dong-a Ilbo newspaper reported. 

The official had been placed in isolation after travelling to China, with Kim Jong-un imposing military law to enforce the lockdown, sources said.   

The trade official was reportedly quarantined under a policy of isolating anyone who had been to China or had contact with Chinese people. 

He is said to have fallen foul of a decree by Kim Jong-un which vowed to 'rule by military law' against anyone who left quarantine without approval.  

Another official is said to have been exiled to a North Korean farm after trying to cover up his travels to China.  

The second official was reportedly a member of the secretive kingdom's National Security Agency.   

Claims of blundering officials being purged or executed are common in North Korea and are very hard to verify. 

Last year, widespread rumours that a top official had been exiled over a failed summit with Donald Trump proved incorrect when he appeared with Kim in public. 

In February Pyongyang announced that quarantines had been extended to 30 days, beyond the 14-day period recommended by world health bosses. 

Government institutions and foreigners living in North Korea were expected to obey it 'unconditionally', North Korean media said. 

North Korea has almost completely closed the border with China, its only major diplomatic ally. 

Flights have been reduced with road and rail links either closed or heavily restricted, while foreign tourists have been banned. 

The DMZ between North and South Korea is already heavily fortified and very few people cross it in any case. 

Pyongyang has also suspended operations at a liaison office it has jointly run with South Korea located just north of the border.  

State media reported that North Korea's Red Cross Society had deployed to 'relevant areas' around the country to monitor people with possible symptoms. 

'They are conducting information activities in various forms and by various methods at public places to introduce common medical knowledge about the epidemic and encourage people to give fuller play to the noble moral traits of helping and leading each other forward,' KCNA reported. 

Tens of thousands of North Korean workers were believed to be working in China before a UN order for Beijing to send them back home expired in December. 

It was unknown how many of them have returned home. 

World Health Organisation officials based in Pyongyang have said they are not aware of any confirmed cases.  

North Korea took similar tough quarantine measures during the 2002-03 spread of SARS, which also began in China. 

The North did not report any SARS cases at the time, according to the South Korean government.