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- North Korea said it will impose hard labor on those who break COVID rules by gathering in groups of more than 3, according to Radio Free Asia.
- Weddings are still allowed, as long as the number people is kept to 3.
- The hermit kingdom has so far reported zero COVID-19 cases, though experts are doubtful this is accurate.
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North Korea will impose hard labor on those who break COVID-19 prevention measures by gathering in groups of more than three outside their household, Radio Free Asia reported on Saturday, quoting sources in the secluded kingdom.
"If four or more people except immediate family gather to eat or drink these days, even if they are relatives, the disease control authorities will send them to a disciplinary labor center for violating the coronavirus quarantine," or be slapped with a huge fine, a resident of South Pyongan province, near the capital Pyongyang, told RFA.
The source, who remained anonymous for security reasons, said the order came from the central disease control agency to prevent the spread of COVID-19 variants.
It's unclear why some people are given fines and others hard labor.
In one case, said the source, a man was fined for holding his son's wedding at his home in mid-July – but wasn't punished with hard labor.
Weddings, authorities insist, according to the RFA report, are still allowed. However, they will have to abide by quarantine rules.
The source said that authorities had initially exempted weddings from the ban after complaints from residents, but that changed as "the number of 'suspected coronavirus patients' with high fever [continued] to increase here since June."
Instead of banning weddings outright, "disease control authorities have begun to crack down on gatherings of more than three guests as a quarantine violation," the source said.
The measures appear aimed at containing the virus in a country that has not officially reported a single case of COVID-19, though experts remain unconvinced. In June, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un blasted officials for their "chronic irresponsibility and incompetence" handling the pandemic, signaling that the virus may have reached its shores.
As early as January 2020 - when the pandemic first emerged - Pyongyang shut off its border with China, reported Japan Times. The RFA in February reported that North Korea cremated 12 people who had died from coronavirus-like symptoms.
It is not known how far along North Korea is in its vaccination program. In March, it was reported that vaccinations would begin with nearly two million AstraZeneca vaccines donated through the World Health Organization's COVAX program, reported VOA.
But later in July, Reuters reported that North Korea had rejected the planned shipment due to the risk of blood clots from the vaccine, preferring Russia's Sputnik V vaccine. While Russia has offered vaccines to North Korea, it is not known if they have been delivered.