It is a rare occurrence.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has apologized for the murder of a South Korean in his territorial waters, Seoul said on Friday (September 25th).

Occurring three days earlier, this "unexpected and shameful event", in Pyongyang's words, was the first murder perpetrated by the northern army in ten years.

The South Korean official, who worked for the fishing industry, was shot dead by North Korean soldiers and his body was burned, a priori, for fear of contamination with the coronavirus.

Kim Jong-un called the event a "shameful affair" and apologized for "disappointing President Moon Jae-in and the South Koreans," said Suh Hoon, Korea's national security adviser. South.

Pyongyang on high alert against Covid-19

North Korea, and especially its current leader, very rarely offers an apology.

The latter are all the more particular at a time when inter-Korean relations are at a standstill, as are the negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington.

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

Suh Hoon read a letter from the ruling northern party's department in charge of relations with its southern neighbor.

In this missive, Pyongyang admits having fired a dozen shots at the man "who entered our waters illegally" and who refused to correctly state his identity.

Border guards then shot him in accordance with standing instructions, the letter said.

His body was no longer visible after the shootings and the troops set fire to his flotation device - which was covered in blood - in accordance with the regulations in force while the country is on maximum alert against the Covid-19.

The South Korean military said Thursday that he had undergone several hours of interrogation while in the water.

During the latter, he reportedly expressed his desire to defect, but was killed on "orders from a higher authority".

The official had disappeared on Monday while he was aboard a patrol boat sailing near the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, located one and a half kilometers from the maritime border with the North.

He was wearing a life jacket and his shoes were found on the boat he was sailing on, suggesting that he went into the water of his own free will.

(With AFP)

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