In a rare apology, North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un has expressed regret over the death of a South Korean official at the hands of his troops.
A statement from Seoul said that Kim, writing to his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in, admitted that the ‘disgraceful affair’ should not have happened.
South Korea has said the 47-year-old man, a fisheries official found floating in the North’s waters in the Yellow Sea, was shot by North Korean troops. His body was evidently covered in oil and set alight in a bid to ensure he did not carry coronavirus into the country, according to an official account from Seoul, cited by Reuters.
The killing – the first of a South Korean citizen by North Korean forces for a decade – has caused outrage in the South.
However, Kim called it a ‘disgraceful affair’ and said he felt ‘very sorry’ for ‘disappointing’ the South Korean people.
The BBC reports that the border between the Koreas is tightly policed, and the North is thought to have a ‘shoot-to-kill’ policy in place to prevent coronavirus from entering the country.