Seoul in dilemma over North Korea's responses to deadly shooting
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| A Navy vessel is on patrol near the front-line border in the Western Sea, Sunday. / Yonhap |
Pyongyang warns Seoul against violating western sea border to search for missing official
By Yi Whan-woo
North Korea, just days after its leader's rare and swift apology, is putting the Moon Jae-in administration in trouble again over the killing of a South Korean fisheries official in North Korean waters.
On Sunday, the North warned the South not to cross its maritime boundary in the West Sea to search for the body of the official shot dead by North Korean troops while adrift early last week.
Pyongyang said its own search is underway and that the body, which has not been recovered, will be handed over to Seoul if recovered.
The North's move is seen to be an uncooperative gesture toward Cheong Wa Dae's call for a joint investigation into the death of the official and the whereabouts of his remains.
Both Koreas are on the same page when it comes to the death of the 47-year-old official, identified by his surname Lee.
But they presented conflicting scenarios over why Lee drifted into North Korean waters and also whether his body was burned by the North Korean maritime guards under "shoot-to-kill orders" to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
