North Korean authorities have issued shoot-to-kill orders to prevent the coronavirus entering the country from China, US forces in the South Korea, Robert Abrams said. Pyongyang closed its border with China in January to try to prevent contamination, and in July state media said it had raised its state of emergency to the maximum level. According to Abrams, the border shutdown "accelerated the effects" of economic sanctions and increased demand for smuggled goods, prompting authorities to intervene. The North has introduced a new "buffer zone, one or two kilometers up on the Chinese border," Abrams told an online conference on Thursday.