A South Korea's government ship for a fishery guidance, is seen near Yeonpyeong island, South Korea, Sept. 24, 2020.
South Korea said on Friday that North Korea's leader has apologized for the killing of a South Korean official.
Yonhap news agency quotes the South’s presidential palace as saying Kim Jong Un called the incident “unexpected” and “unfortunate,” and apologized "for disappointing President Moon and South Koreans."
The North’s approach was extremely unusual. No North Korean leader has apologized to the South on any issue before.
On Thursday, the 47-year-old South Korean fisheries official who had been reported missing on Monday was interrogated in the North’s waters before being shot dead and his body cremated, the South's military said, adding that the reason the man was shot remained unknown.
"Our military strongly condemns such an atrocity, and strongly demands North Korea provide an explanation and punish those who are responsible," General Ahn Young-ho from South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
South Korean military said the man had disappeared from a patrol boat and he was likely trying to defect to the North.