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South Koreans shot dead – Kim Jong-un apologizes
| Reading time: 3 minutes
Kim Jong-un apologizes for killing South Korean man
According to the South Korean military, the 47-year-old officer was on a patrol boat when he suddenly disappeared from the ship. Later, North Korean soldiers are said to have shot the man floating in the water.
That surprised observers: North Korea was quick to react to accusations that it had fired at a South Korean. It is extremely regrettable to have disappointed the president and the South Koreans “by this unexpected incident,” he said.
northAfter North Korean soldiers shot a South Korean ministerial official, North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un is trying to smooth things over in Seoul. Kim has apologized for the incident, South Korea’s presidential office said on Friday. It is extremely regrettable “to have disappointed President Moon Jae-in and the South Koreans by this unexpected incident.” It is unusual for the autocratic leader of North Korea to apologize to his neighbor.
Kim’s apology was conveyed, according to Seoul, in a letter from the United Front Department of the North Korean Workers’ Party. The front department had described Pyongyang’s version of the course of events. The leadership had come to the conclusion that this “shameful incident” should never have happened, the letter said. It was also the first official response to Tuesday’s incident.
South Korea accused the isolated neighboring country of brutal behavior and demanded clarification Thursday over the shooting of the fisheries ministry official.
The South Koreans were on the move with a patrol boat
According to the South Korean military, the 47-year-old officer was on a business trip on a patrol boat near the maritime border off the west coast on Monday when he suddenly disappeared from the ship. The search for him was fruitless. On Tuesday, North Korean soldiers shot the man still floating in the water and then burned the body as an obvious protective measure against the corona virus.
North Korea contradicted this version in part. It was not the body that was burned, but the floating object carrying the man. Soldiers had previously fired ten shots at the man who had entered North Korean waters illegally. The border guards acted in accordance with instructions. The body was no longer visible after the shooting. Only a lot of blood could be seen on the swim device.
North Korea also regretted that the South Korean military unilaterally reported the circumstances of the incident. The leadership in Pyongyang is trying to make sure that incident does not happen again. He also stressed “being more vigilant so that the trust and respect that has been built between North and South Korea in recent years are not destroyed.”
In South Korea, the killing of the officer had caused misunderstanding. It was also feared that the latest incident would hamper the government’s efforts to resume the broken dialogue with the neighboring country.
As surprisingly became known on Friday, Moon and Kim had exchanged personal letters that month. Kim has expressed the hope that South Koreans will overcome the difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the damage caused by recent typhoons, South Korea’s national security adviser Suh Hoon said. In his letter, Moon lamented, among other things, that the two countries were unable to help each other despite the challenge posed by the pandemic.
