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N. Korea Shoots, Cremates S. Korean Civilian at Sea, Says Seoul

William Gallo

   SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - North Korea shot, killed, and immediately cremated
   a South Korean civilian official who went missing earlier this week
   near the twocountries'disputed western sea border, according to South
   Korea's military.

   Seoul's National Defense Ministry said Thursday the man was questioned
   in North Korean waters, before being shot to death, doused with oil,
   and then set on fire by troopswearinggas masks, apparently all on
   orders from a superior. South Korean officials did not reveal how they
   knew those details, citing only "diverse intelligence."

   "Our military strongly condemns this brutal act and strongly urges the
   North to explain this and punish those responsible," Lt. Gen.
   AhnYoung-hoof the South Korean military's Joint Chiefs of Staff told a
   pressbriefing. "We also warn North Korea that all responsibility for
   this incident lies with it."

   North Korea's military has not responded to Seoul's request for more
   information, according to South Korean defense officials. Pyongyang has
   not publicly commented on the incident.

   The unidentified 47-year-old official, who worked for the Ministry of
   Oceans and Fisheries, disappeared Monday while on duty aboard a patrol
   boat off the South Korean border island of Yeonpyeong. He was reported
   missing about 10 kilometers south of the Northern Limit Line, the de
   facto inter-Korean sea border.

   The circumstances of the man's disappearance are not clear. South
   Korean military officials believe he may have been trying to flee to
   North Korea. The report did not say why the man would have defected to
   the North.

   Past incidents

   Earlier this week, South Korean police said they arrested a defector
   who was trying to return to North Korea via a military training site in
   the border town of Cheorwon.

   In July, a 24-year-old man who had fled North Korea successfully swam
   back into the country, after being accused of rape in South Korea. That
   incident prompted the North to lock down a border area, ostensibly
   because of coronavirus concerns.

   Earlier this month, the top U.S. commander in South Korea, General
   Robert Abrams, said North Korea had issued "shoot-to-kill" orders to
   prevent the coronavirus from entering the country from China.

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