President Moon Jae-in has voiced his unhappiness and frustration over the killing of a South Korean official by North Korean troops however stated the tragedy may function a springboard for renewed dialogue.
The capturing of the civil servant, who labored for the South Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, was “regrettable and unlucky,” Moon stated on Monday. He known as for additional efforts to find out the circumstances main as much as the official’s demise and stated Seoul would work to develop “substantive” insurance policies to make sure that an analogous incident doesn’t happen once more.
The South Korean chief acknowledged the shock and anguish attributable to killing, however he urged that the tragedy may flip into a chance to restart reconciliation efforts with Pyongyang.
The 47-year-old official went lacking whereas inspecting the waters close to the border between the 2 hostile neighbors. The civil servant reportedly jumped off his boat and drifted into North Korean waters. He was shot by North Korean troopers as he tried to flee whereas being interrogated. The South Korean army claims that the official had tried to defect to the North, however his brother has disputed this concept.
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N.Korea says Seoul should cease ‘intrusion’ beneath pretext of trying to find physique of slain official, warns of ‘one other terrible incident’
North Korean chief Kim Jong-un issued a uncommon apology for the incident, describing it as “one thing that ought to not occur.”
Nevertheless, a search operation launched by South Korea to find the sufferer’s physique has triggered friction with the North. Pyongyang accused Seoul of utilizing the search efforts as a pretext to ship warships into its territorial waters. The “intrusion” may result in an “escalation of tensions” within the area, North Korea warned.
Pyongyang and Seoul inked an settlement in 2018 that elevated financial cooperation and led to demilitarization alongside the border. The progress was adopted by denuclearization talks the following yr, however these negotiations fell by means of after Pyongyang rejected a US proposal for sanctions aid in change for disarmament. Reconciliation efforts between the 2 Koreas have faltered in latest months. In June, Pyongyang blew up an inter-Korean liaison workplace situated in its territory, after the North complained that Seoul was not doing sufficient to cease defectors from sending leaflets and different anti-government literature throughout the border.
