Body of Ansan Male Repatriated via Panmunjom
Chris Green | 2014-07-30 17:05
The North Korean authorities have repatriated a South Korean male found in the waters of the West Sea last Sunday. The body and belongings of the man, a Mr. Lee, were conveyed to the South Korean authorities via Panmunjom today.
The man disappeared last month after going out fishing from Incheon, and was retrieved off the North Korean coast near the village of Taegi in Ongjin County, South Hwanghae Province. The cause of death is not known, but the death is not believed to be suspicious.
According to identification documents found on the body, the man was a 61-year old resident of Ansan, a city south of Seoul. A brief article on the repatriation was published today by Chosun Central News Agency (KCNA).
Commenting on the event, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Unification downplayed the significance of the return of the body, saying, "This kind of incident has happened at times. The body of a South Korean citizen sometimes has drifted toward the North and vice versa. In those cases, we have handed over the body to each other in a humanitarian manner."
