Body of missing sailor recovered from East Sea: Navy

Vessels sail across the sea near a port in Donghae, Gangwon Province / Korea Times file

The Navy said Monday it has recovered the body of a sailor who went missing while aboard a naval vessel on a patrol mission in the East Sea the previous day.

The sailor, whose identity was withheld, was reported missing Sunday morning as the vessel was on patrol about 50 kilometers off Geojin in Gangwon Province, near the Northern Limit Line, the de facto inter-Korean maritime border, according to the armed service.

A patrol boat searching the area spotted the body in waters 52 km off Geojin's east coast at 5:58 a.m., before authorities retrieved it via a rigid inflatable boat at 6:43 a.m., the Navy said in a notice to the press.

The recovered body is expected to be brought to a naval base in Donghae, some 180 km east of Seoul, by Monday morning aboard a frigate, officials said.

The vessel previously boarded by the late sailor returned to the naval base at 8 a.m., it added.

Police and military investigative agencies plan to jointly look into the exact account of the incident and the cause of the sailor's death.

The recovery came hours after the Navy had launched an all-out search operation in cooperation with the Coast Guard, deploying around 10 ships and aircraft.

The late sailor, who held the rank of seaman apprentice, was reported missing after failing to report for duty for the morning watch.

The military had also notified North Korea of the disappearance through international merchant ship communication channels.

The unification ministry on Sunday requested Pyongyang's cooperation in searching for the missing sailor and repatriation.