Kim Jong Un: North Korea Is ‘Very Sorry’ for Killing Civil Servant From the South

Mr. Kim’s letter got here a day after officers in Seoul stated North Koreans shot, killed and burned the physique of a 47-year-old South Korean civil servant earlier this week. The unnamed man, who labored at South Korea’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, disappeared from an inspection boat not removed from North Korean waters. The South Korean army believes the man informed the North Koreans he needed to defect to the North.

The killing drew condemnations from Seoul and Washington.

The North Korean dictator’s apology is uncommon. North Korea usually expresses pity or remorse when it kills South Korean civilians—however such correspondences hardly ever are available writing immediately citing an apology from Mr. Kim or his predecessors. It hasn’t apologized for one among its troopers killing a South Korean civilian visiting a North Korean vacationer website in 2008. Pyongyang additionally hasn’t apologized for a pair of army assaults on South Korea in 2010.

North Korea additionally hasn’t accepted duty for the 2017 demise of Otto Warmbier, an American faculty pupil who was detained by authorities in Pyongyang. The North launched him to Joseph Yun, the U.S.’s envoy for North Korean affairs at the time—in a vegetative state—earlier than he died.

Mr. Kim’s letter suggests he want to preserve a closeness with Mr. Moon—who was mocked by North Korean state media over the summer time—and a want to maintain army tensions lowered, individuals who watch Pyongyang carefully stated.

“In order to face Trump in the future, he’s going to need a supportive mediator in Moon,” stated Nam Sung-wook, a former head of the South Korean spy company’s suppose tank.

In response to the South Korean civil servant’s killing, Mr. Moon ordered South Korean forces to extend their readiness and monitoring of North Korea in the Yellow Sea. Washington expressed assist for Seoul and demanded an evidence from Pyongyang about the incident.

In its letter, North Korea disputed some particulars from the incident offered by the South Korean army on Thursday.

North Korean officers admitted to taking pictures about 10 rounds at the South Korean civil servant who drifted into the North’s waters, in response to the letter. It was some “floating material” that the man had been carrying that was burned, not his physique, the North Koreans wrote. The North stated it was executing orders established for coronavirus prevention.

After taking pictures the South Korean man from a distance of about 130 to 160 ft, North Korean officers went to the location the place he was final seen, however solely discovered traces of blood, in response to the letter.

South Korea’s army beforehand stated North Korean naval officers shot and killed the civil servant at about 9:40 p.m. on Tuesday, that means visibility would have been impaired.

Tensions between the two Koreas rose in June when North Korea blew up a liaison workplace that it ran collectively with the South, after which it despatched troops to the border. Mr. Moon warned that any armed assault could be met with a response. Within days, Mr. Kim stated all army actions could be suspended.

In the weeks earlier than the South Korean man’s killing, relations between the two Koreas have been enhancing, Mr. Moon’s nationwide safety adviser stated Friday. Messrs. Kim and Moon exchanged two letters this month, the nationwide safety adviser stated.

In a letter dated Sept. 8, Mr. Moon lauded Mr. Kim’s determination to personally go to flood-stricken areas in the North. Mr. Kim, in a response 4 days later, stated he’s assured Mr. Moon will reply to the coronavirus nicely.

“I will wait for this year’s terrible time to quickly pass, and let the days of the good times come as soon as possible,” Mr. Kim stated in his letter to Mr. Moon.

Write to Andrew Jeong at [email protected]