North Korea expressed regret today over the death of a missing South Korean, saying it shot him as part of measures to battle the coronavirus, the South’s national security adviser said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a letter to South Korean President Moon Jae-in saying the incident should not have happened, the official told a briefing.
Meanwhile, a US reconnaissance aircraft flew over the Yellow Sea earlier this week around the time when North Korea brutally killed a South Korean official drifting near the western sea border.
On Tuesday, North Korea shot the fisheries official who was adrift in its waters and incinerated his body, according to the South Korean military. He went missing the previous day while on duty near the Yellow Sea border island of Yeonpyeong.
It was reported that on Tuesday, an RC-135S Cobra Ball aircraft “conducted a mission over the Yellow Sea. The aircraft showed quite a complicated, unusual flight route over the area.
The RC-135S is a rapidly deployable aircraft which carries out missions of national priority to collect optical and electronic data on ballistic targets, according to the US Air Force. It is equipped with a sophisticated array of optical and electronic sensors, recording media, and communications equipment to collect vital information.
The US has often sent the plane, along with other types of spy aircraft, over the Korean Peninsula on an apparent mission to monitor North Korea.