On Monday, a 47-year-old South Korean man disappeared from a boat near North Korea's southwestern border.
Suspicions were quickly drawn that he was trying to cross the border into North Korea.
The man was later found at a flotilla of a North Korean patrol boat on North Korean waters.
The soldiers must then have received orders to shoot the man, which they also did.
They are then said to have burned the body as part of North Korea's harsh corona laws that dictate lethal violence to prevent infection from crossing the border.
Kim Jong Un apologizes
Following the incident, South Korean authorities have strongly condemned the action and demanded an explanation.
And now North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has apologized to South Korea for the incident, according to South Korea's presidential office, reports AP.
In a formal statement, Kim Jong Un is said to have written that he is "very sad" and has called the incident "unexpected" and "unhappy".
However, North Korea believes that they burned the floaters and not the body itself, writes the South Korean news agency Yonhap.