Precedent ... North Korea's leader apologizes for "shameful incident"

North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un apologized, on Friday, for the killing of a South Korean citizen at sea, describing the incident as "defective and unexpected," according to the Seoul presidential office.

The official in the fisheries sector was shot dead Tuesday by North Korean soldiers, while Seoul reported that his body was set on fire while he was at sea, apparently as a precaution for fear of transmitting Covid-19 infection.

It was the first killing by North Korean forces against a South Korean citizen in a decade, and it sparked outrage in South Korea.

Kim apologized for the "disappointment" the accident caused to the South Korean people and President Moon Jae-in, instead of helping them confront the "malicious Coronavirus," according to Seoul's National Security Adviser, Soh Hun.

It is extremely rare for North Korea, and indeed Kim personally, to apologize.

The message comes in light of the stalemate in inter-Korean relations and the stalled nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington.

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