Kim offers rare apology for killing of S. Korean

Letter includes vow to prevent any recurrence

SEOUL leader Kim Jong Un apologized on Friday for the shooting death of a South Korean man to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, the South's national security adviser said, as public and political outrage over the killing grew.

The apology came in a letter from the North's United Front Department, which handles cross-border ties, to South Korean President Moon Jae-in a day after South Korean officials said the North's soldiers killed the man, doused his body in fuel and set it on fire.

The rare conciliatory message from the North Korean leader came as Moon faced intense political fallout over the incident, which coincided with a renewed push by him for engagement with North Korea.

“Chairman Kim Jong Un asked to convey his feeling that he is greatly sorry that an unexpected unsavory incident occurred in our waters which hugely disappointed President Moon Jae-in and compatriots in the South,” the adviser, Suh Hoon, told reporters.

Suh said the letter was a response to requests for an explanation for the incident and included a promise to prevent any recurrence.

North Korea expressed hope the incident would not undermine recent efforts to foster trust, Suh said, adding Moon and Kim had exchanged letters this month.

Moon praised Kim's “strong resolve to save lives” and steer anti-virus and flood recovery work in his Sept. 8 letter, his office said.

In a Sept. 12 reply, Kim said Moon would win the battle against the coronavirus and “good things” would happen later.

The shooting of the man, a fisheries official who had gone missing this week, shocked South Koreans and sparked a barrage of criticism from the opposition and the public, prompting an unusually tough response from Moon, who called it “unpardonable.”

Critics accused Moon of failing to save a citizen's life while being soft on North Korea, saying the military did not attempt to save him despite spotting him six hours before he was shot dead.

South Korean officials said the man has run up debt and likely sought to defect to the North. But his brother refuted that, saying he had just got a new boat and must have had some sort of accident.

“Not everyone who has debts wants to go to the North,” the brother, Lee Rae-jin, said on social media.

The North's soldiers fired more than 10 shots at the man after he tried to flee without revealing his identity, Suh said, citing the letter.

But the North Korean side denied burning his body, saying the soldiers had burned a flotation device he was using in line with their anti-virus procedures, Suh said.