[ad_1]
The text of the North Korean message on Friday, which contained Kim’s apology, was revealed to the media by Suh Hoon, director of national security at Moon’s presidential Blue House. Mr. Suh did not specify how the message was delivered; his original statement used wording that could mean it was a phone message, but presidential advisers later clarified that it was not. North Korean state media had not yet reported on the message as of Friday evening.
In the message, North Korea denied that its soldiers had burned the body of the South Korean official and offered an account that differed from the South Korean in other key details.
When the crew of a North Korean ship found the officer adrift on Tuesday, they approached him and asked him to identify himself, according to the North Korean account. The man only said he was from the south, and when he declined to answer further questions, the North Korean ship approached and fired two warning shots, North Korea said.
The man then ducked in surprise and appeared to try to escape, North said.
“Our soldiers fired around 10 shots at the illegal intruder, based on a decision made by the captain of our ship and in accordance with maritime security operational guidelines,” the North’s message read. When the shooting occurred, the boat was 44 to 55 yards from the man, the statement read.
Later, the North Korean crew found a flotation device that the man had been using that had a large amount of blood in it, but not the man himself, according to the message.
“Our military concluded that the illegal intruder was shot dead and burned his floating device in accordance with our epidemiological regulations,” he said.
South Korean officials had said Thursday that they believed the man had been killed out of North Korea’s fear of the coronavirus. North Korea has kept its borders closed since January due to the pandemic. This month, General Robert B. Abrams, the commander of the United States Army in South Korea, said that North Korea had deployed troops along its border with China on shoot-to-kill orders, to prevent smugglers from bringing the coronavirus.
