Kim Jong Un has apologized for the deadly the shooting of a South Korean citizen by North Korean military personnel north of the border, a signal that could help ease a new source of tension between the two rivals.
South Korea's national security adviser,
Seh Hoon said North Korea sent a letter Friday morning apologizing for the
death of a 47-year-old man who worked for the Fisheries Ministry. The incident
earlier this week was the first such killing in nearly a decade, and Seoul
called on Pyongyang to show dissatisfaction with its conduct.
According to the SH, the letter said,
"Kim ordered to send a message that he is very sorry that this incident
caused great disappointment to South Korean President Moon Jae-in and the South
Korean people." North Korean state media have not yet commented on the
incident.
A South Korean government employee went
missing Monday from his boat near Yeonpyeong Island, 10 kilometers (6 miles)
south of the maritime border known as the Northern Boundary Line. South Korea's
Defense Ministry said Thursday that North Korean officials shot and burned the
man.
He was apparently trying to make a
mistake, but North Koreans were treated harshly because they believed it could
be a carrier of the coronavirus, Yonhap News Agency quoted a South Korean
military official as saying.
Yeonpyeong, near where the shooting took
place, was the first attack on South Korean soil since the end of the Korean
War in November 2010. North Korea shelled targets for more than an hour,
killing two civilians and two sailors. The blaze damaged about 300 structures
and set forest areas on fire.
The incident is a rare case that began in
2008 when North Korea shot a 53-year-old South Korean female vacationer at a
military base at a resort in Mount Kumgang, North Korea. Was walking near
North Korea also apologized for the
killing. But South Koreans were then’ ordered to vacate the facility, which was
thought to serve as a place where the two Koreas could meet.
READ MORE
