North Korea shoots and burns body of Seoul official

A South Korean official has been killed after crossing a maritime border into North Korea, officials in Seoul are reporting.

A Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries functionary went missing off the Yeonpyeong Islands on September 21, according to Lt Gen Ahn Young-ho, of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The Yeonpyeong islands sit practically astride the maritime border between North and South Korea.

The official apparently crossed into North Korean waters, whether accidentally or deliberately is not being reported, whereupon North Korean forces opened fire, killing him. They later burned his body, Ahn said.

In a statement, the South Korean military said it “strongly condemns the North’s atrocities” and urged Pyongyang to provide an explanation and punish those responsible.

North Korea has not yet responded.

Tensions have been rising since communication between the two countries was cut in June, after Pyongyang closed and blew up a joint liaison office in Kaesong, a city on the northern side of the border.