North Korean troops ‘shot South official and burned his body’
Nor th Korean troops shot a South Korean government official who may have attempted to defect, and set his body on fire, after they found him on a floating object in water near their disputed sea boundary, according to Seoul.
A South Korean announcements aid them andi sapp eared from a government ship checking on potential unauthorised fishing in an area south of the boundary on Monday, a day before he was found in North Korean waters.
South Korean officials held a series of news conferences condemning what they called North Korea’s “atrocious acts” and urging it to apologise and punish those responsible.
On Tuesday, Pyongyang sent officials wearing gas masks aboard a boat near the man to learn why he was there. Later in the day, a North Korean navy boat arrived and opened fire at him, South Korea’ s Defence Ministry said.
Sailors from the boat, putting on gas masks and protective suits, then poured petrol on the man’s body and set it on fire, the ministry said, citing intelligence gathered by surveillance equipment and other assets.
The ministry said it was not clear what caused his death and whether he died after being shot.
It was unclear how he ended up in the North, but a defence official said the man might have tried to defect to Nor th Korea. The official said the man was wearing a life jacket on a small floating object and that the military had obtained information that he wanted to go to North Korea.
The official said North Korea may have determined to kill the man in line with stringent anti- coronavirus rules that involve shooting anyone illegally crossing the border.
North Korea says there has not been a single virus case on its territory, a claim wide - ly disputed by many foreign experts. Observers say a pandemic could cause devastating consequences in North Korea because of its broken public health care system and a chronic shortage of medical supplies.
South Korea sent a message to North Korea through a communication channel at the USled UN Command in South Korea on Wednesday to ask about the missing official, but the North has not responded, according to the South Korean Defence Ministry.
Senior military officer Ahn Young Ho told reporters that South Korea strongly condemned North Korea’s “atrocious act” and urged it to punish those responsible.
He said Seoul usedvario us intelligence to hold Pyongyang responsible for the man’s death.
Little is known about the the 47-year- old man, except that he was among 18 officials aboard the government boat belonging to the Oceans and Fisheries Ministry.