North Korea’s leader apologizes after death
SEOUL — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un offered a rare apology Friday for the killing of a South Korean government official at sea by soldiers from the North, South Korea said.
“I am deeply sorry that an unexpected and unfortunate thing has happened in our territorial waters that delivered a big
disappointment to President Moon Jae-in and the people of the South,” Kim was quoted as saying in a message his government sent to the South on Friday.
Kim’s prompt apology to the South, the first issued in his name since he took power nearly a decade ago, appeared to have headed off what could have been another serious crisis in relations between the Koreas. South Koreans across the political spectrum had expressed outrage since Moon’s government announced the official’s killing Thursday.
The official, whose name has not been released by the South but who worked for the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, went missing from his patrol vessel Monday. He was shot and killed in North Korean waters Tuesday, apparently while trying to defect, according to officials in the South.
North Korean soldiers then poured oil on the man’s body and set it on fire for fear that he might have had the coronavirus, the officials said. The North disputed those details in the statement.
The killing sent shock waves through South Korea. Moon and his government called it “stunning” and “atrocious” and demanded that North Korea apologize.