North Korea warns of naval tensions during search for slain South Korean

North Korea accused South Korea of sending ships across the disputed sea boundary to find the body of a man recently killed by North Korean troops

Credit: Yonhap

North Korea said on Sunday it is searching for the body a South Korean official killed by its troops, but warned that South Korean naval operations in the area threatened to raise tensions.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un issued a rare apology on Friday for the fatal shooting of the South Korean fisheries official in North Korean waters.

Seoul then urged Pyongyang to further investigate the fatal shooting and suggested it could be a joint probe by the two sides. South Korea’s military has accused the North’s soldiers of killing the man, dousing his body in fuel and setting it on fire near the sea border.

North Korean state news agency KCNA said on Sunday that the country’s authorities were considering ways to hand over the body to the South if it is found.

The report called it an "awful case which should not have happened" but warned that South Korean naval operations near the site of the incident had crossed into North Korean waters.

South Korean marine soldiers patrol on Yeonpyeong island

Credit: Yonhap

"We urge the south side to immediately halt the intrusion across the military demarcation line in the west sea that may lead to escalation of tensions," KCNA said.

A spokesman for South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense had no immediate comment on the North’s accusations.

South Korea has mobilised 39 vessels, including 16 naval ships, and six aircraft for the search, which continued on Sunday despite the North Korean complaints, South Korean news agency Yonhap said. North Korea was beginning its own search operation to recover the body, KCNA said.

"We also took more necessary security measures in order to make sure that no more incident spoiling the relations of trust and respect between the north and the south would happen in any case, true to the intention of our Supreme Leadership," the report added, without elaborating.