Autopsy Results Not Enough to Clarify Shooting Death
By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
The cause of death of South Korean tourist Park Wang-ja shot at a North Korean resort were two bullet wounds which caused excessive bleeding into her lung and from her liver, according to autopsy results released Wednesday.
However, the autopsy was not sufficient to clear up all questions regarding her death such as from what distance she was shot, forensic scientist Seo Jung-seok from the National Institute of Scientific Investigation (NISI) said at the Ministry of Unification in Seoul.
``We found two gunshot wounds ― one penetrating from back to right chest and the other from right to left buttocks,'' the scientist told reporters. ``However, it is difficult to judge how she was killed under which circumstances by autopsy and examining her clothing only.''
Seo added it appears she was shot from a distance further than one to two meters.
Kim Dong-hwan, a gunshot expert at the institute, said it appears Park was shot from a distance greater than two meters as no gunpowder was found on her clothing.
The forensic team conducted the autopsy July 11-12 and is examining photos of the beach on which the 53-year-old Park was killed.
Asked about whether two North Korean soldiers fired the bullets, Seo answered that was difficult to confirm from the results they have obtained so far.
Unlike initial reports from the North, CEO Yoon Man-joon of Hyundai Asan, the operator of the tour project, said after visiting the resort that two more North Korean soldiers were on the scene.
The doctor said an investigation of the shooting site was necessary to answer all questions on the killing.
Seoul formed an eight-member fact-finding team led by Hwang Boo-gi, director of the liaison support department at the Office of South-North Dialogue, Monday.
The government has asked for North Korea's permission to allow the team to investigate the site of the shooting, but the reclusive state refused to accept the request.
The housewife residing in Seoul was shot dead by a North Korean soldier while strolling along a beach near her hotel in the Mt. Geumgang resort in the pre-dawn hours of last Friday.
According to North Korean officials, she strayed into a fenced-off restricted military zone and was killed because of her failure to heed a warning.