Renewed tension between Pyongyang and Seoul.

North Korean forces shot dead a South Korean fisherman who ended up in Pyongyang territorial waters, Seoul's defense ministry said Thursday (September 24th), calling the act "outrageous."

Before disappearing from the patrol boat he was on, the 47-year-old was near the western border island of Yeonpyeong, the ministry said in a statement.

After analyzing intelligence, the South Korean military "confirmed" that the North had "shot dead a South Korean national found in North Korean territorial waters and cremated his body."

"We solemnly warn North Korea that all responsibility for this incident is incumbent upon it," she added.

It is not yet clear why this official ended up in the water. 

>> To read also on France 24: Why North Korea is currently baiting its neighbor to the South

Media reported that his shoes were found on board the patrol boat, suggesting that he would have wanted to defect. 

In July, a North Korean defector who fled to the South three years ago returned to his country, successfully crossing the "demarcation line" that serves as the border with South Korea.

This had prompted the North Korean authorities to order the confinement of the city of Kaesong, located on the border, for fear that it would carry the Covid-19.

No official case of Covid-19, according to Pyongyang

The commander of US forces in South Korea, Robert Abrams, claimed that the North Korean authorities ordered the shooting of those who tried to enter the country from China, in order to prevent an epidemic of Covid-19.

A "buffer zone" at the border has been created, with special forces soldiers ready to fire.

Pyongyang has so far claimed not to have recorded any cases of Covid-19 in its territory.

North Korea closed its borders in late January, when the epidemic was exploding in China, and imposed drastic restrictions on its population, including strict containment of thousands of people. 

With AFP

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