Call the incident shameful.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un regrets that a South Korean was shot and killed in North Korean waters, reports the South Korean news agency Yonhap.
The country promises to implement measures to prevent similar episodes from happening again.
The apology came Friday after it was reported the day before that the man, a 47-year-old official in the South Korean Ministry of Fisheries, had been shot and killed after he jumped overboard from a patrol boat.
He ended up in North Korean waters, where he was killed by North Korean soldiers, who then poured oil over the body and set it on fire, according to statements from the South Korean Ministry of Defense on Thursday.
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The cremation of the body is believed to have been a measure to prevent coronary heart disease.
North Korea confirmed the course of events on Friday. North Korean border guards fired more than ten shots at the South Korean and then set fire to “liquid material” on which the man was floating. The shots were fired according to instructions to shoot intruders, it was stated in the explanation.
In the wake of this, there was a full, international chaos:
Kim is sorry
Kim calls the incident a shameful act, and he apologizes for disappointing the South Koreans and their president Moon Jae-in.
It is very unusual for Kim to apologize to South Korea in any case. The apology was announced by the South Korean presidential office.
The North Korean leader publicly apologizes to South Korea after the incident.
Foto: Korean Central News Agency (AP/NTB scanpix)
South Korea on Thursday called the incident disgusting and demanded that those responsible be punished.
South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said on Friday that the incident would not affect efforts to bring about peace and nuclear disarmament with its northern neighbor.
Possible defector
The patrol boat that the 47-year-old man was on board was on the western border island of Yeonpyeong when he disappeared on Monday.
It is suspected that he tried to jump off to North Korea as he left his shoes on the boat and was wearing a life jacket.
Look at the historic moment when the President of the United States met the dictator of North Korea:
The next day, he is said to have been discovered in the sea by a North Korean patrol boat. The soldiers on the boat are said to have been wearing gas masks and allegedly questioned him from a distance for several hours while he was in the water, before they were ordered to be killed. Then they set fire to the body, an official in the South Korean defense told AFP on Thursday.
– We consider that it was carried out as part of the North Korean measures against the coronavirus, the source said.
North Korea has tightened border controls in connection with the corona pandemic, and is believed to have ordered soldiers to shoot to kill if anyone tries to cross the border illegally in order to prevent infection.
(© NTB)
The cool relationship between North Korea and the United States does not get better from this:
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