UN special rapporteurs have expressed formal concern over a North Korean law that rejects foreign ideologies and the regime's order to shoot trespassers at the border on COVID-19 concerns. 

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said Friday that special rapporteurs Tomás Ojea Quintana, Morris Tidball-Binz and Irene Khan sent a letter to North Korea earlier this week asking for more details and Pyongyang's stance on the two issues.

Based on information from within the North submitted by the Seoul-based Transitional Justice Working Group, the UN officials said the law aimed at rejecting so-called "reactionary" ideologies is essentially a ban on adopting South Korean culture such as language, music and publications.

They said that people who import or distribute South Korean content are also to be executed under the law and expressed concern over the violation of free speech and expression.

The UN wants to know how many have been executed so far. 

The rapporteurs said the shoot-to-kill border protection order is also an extreme measure. Issued in August last year, it allows soldiers to shoot at anyone on sight in the border buffer zone without issuing any warning.