Firm response to the North's actions must follow
The government gave a shocking announcement on Thursday that North Korea killed and burned the body of a South Korean civil servant who went missing Monday while on duty in the West Sea. Even if the North has raised its alert against the coronavirus to the extreme, to kill an unarmed civilian is an unacceptable act.
The act violates the Geneva Conventions, as well as the Sept. 19 Military Agreement between the two Koreas. The presidential office demanded that the North explain what happened and take appropriate measures over the incident. On Friday, North Korea's United Front Department sent a formal notice delivering North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's message that he feels "very sorry" for disappointing the President and other South Koreans in connection with the case. The North also delivered the results of the probe that its troops near the western sea border fired more than 10 shots as the man intruded in the North's territorial waters. The North said it burned the flotsam but could not find the body.
The letter met one of Seoul's demands. Now, the two Koreas must find a way to take appropriate action on those responsible and pledge non-recurrence of such an incident. They should also confirm the discrepancies between the South's initial findings and the North's probe especially regarding why and how the civil servant arrived in the North's waters and the facts of the burning.
The North has been imposing "shoot-to-kill orders" in border areas to prevent any coronavirus outbreaks. There is no excuse however for the deplorable killing at sea. It is also hard to shake off the feeling that the South's military authorities and the government may have responded with lethargy to saving the life of its national.
The government's explanations to date are wanting; further investigations must yield a clearer picture. Family members and colleagues of the 47-year-old civil servant rebuked the Joint Chiefs of Staff's claim that he may have been attempting to defect to the North. The military gave a confounding explanation that they did not expect the North would commit such an atrocity, as a way of defending its own inaction even after learning that he was in the North's custody. There is also skepticism about the government announcing the incident Thursday. Officials said that they needed that time to verify the facts, and President Moon Jae-in's pre-recorded message of goodwill with his proposal to end the Korean War was aired in the meantime.
The last time an unarmed South Korean civilian was shot and killed by North Korea was in 2008 when a female tourist walked into off-limits area in the Mount Geumgang resort. The inter-Korean tourism project remains closed to this day. The government should not sit on the North's formal notice as it did on initial information regarding the civil servant but follow through on its demands. Our military must be more vigilant, and reaffirm its pledge to protect the country and serve its people.
The government gave a shocking announcement on Thursday that North Korea killed and burned the body of a South Korean civil servant who went missing Monday while on duty in the West Sea. Even if the North has raised its alert against the coronavirus to the extreme, to kill an unarmed civilian is an unacceptable act.
The act violates the Geneva Conventions, as well as the Sept. 19 Military Agreement between the two Koreas. The presidential office demanded that the North explain what happened and take appropriate measures over the incident. On Friday, North Korea's United Front Department sent a formal notice delivering North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's message that he feels "very sorry" for disappointing the President and other South Koreans in connection with the case. The North also delivered the results of the probe that its troops near the western sea border fired more than 10 shots as the man intruded in the North's territorial waters. The North said it burned the flotsam but could not find the body.
The letter met one of Seoul's demands. Now, the two Koreas must find a way to take appropriate action on those responsible and pledge non-recurrence of such an incident. They should also confirm the discrepancies between the South's initial findings and the North's probe especially regarding why and how the civil servant arrived in the North's waters and the facts of the burning.
The North has been imposing "shoot-to-kill orders" in border areas to prevent any coronavirus outbreaks. There is no excuse however for the deplorable killing at sea. It is also hard to shake off the feeling that the South's military authorities and the government may have responded with lethargy to saving the life of its national.
The government's explanations to date are wanting; further investigations must yield a clearer picture. Family members and colleagues of the 47-year-old civil servant rebuked the Joint Chiefs of Staff's claim that he may have been attempting to defect to the North. The military gave a confounding explanation that they did not expect the North would commit such an atrocity, as a way of defending its own inaction even after learning that he was in the North's custody. There is also skepticism about the government announcing the incident Thursday. Officials said that they needed that time to verify the facts, and President Moon Jae-in's pre-recorded message of goodwill with his proposal to end the Korean War was aired in the meantime.
The last time an unarmed South Korean civilian was shot and killed by North Korea was in 2008 when a female tourist walked into off-limits area in the Mount Geumgang resort. The inter-Korean tourism project remains closed to this day. The government should not sit on the North's formal notice as it did on initial information regarding the civil servant but follow through on its demands. Our military must be more vigilant, and reaffirm its pledge to protect the country and serve its people.
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