[News analysis] N. Korean military’s fatal shooting of S. Korean official could have disastrous consequences for inter-Korean relations

Posted on : 2020-09-25 16:27 KST Modified on : 2020-09-25 16:27 KST
Alleged reason for burning corpse was to keep COVID-19 out
At the National Assembly on Sept. 24, Vice Defense Minister Park Jae-min (center) is briefed on the killing of a South Korean government official by North Korean soldiers. (photo pool)
At the National Assembly on Sept. 24, Vice Defense Minister Park Jae-min (center) is briefed on the killing of a South Korean government official by North Korean soldiers. (photo pool)

Inter-Korean relations, which were already at a virtual impasse, now face an unexpected negative development with potentially huge consequences. As the outrage of the South Korean public collides with the typically rigid response from North Korean authorities, the two sides are in danger of slipping into a vicious cycle that is at once uncontrollable and inescapable.

Sources with the South Korean military said on Sept. 24 that an official on an inspection vessel with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) who had been floating in waters north of the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the Yellow Sea was “shot [by soldiers on] a North Korean patrol boat on orders from the naval hierarchy.” After that, sources said, the North Koreans “committed the horrific act of pouring oil on the floating corpse and setting it alight.” The sources said the North Korean soldiers’ actions “appear to be calculated,” rather than random.

Allegedly, the North Korean military shot the South Korean official and burned his corpse to keep COVID-19 out. According to sources in the South Korean military, a “North Korean fishing vessel” was the first to discover “the exhausted missing man on a flotation device” around 3:30 pm on Sept. 22. But instead of immediately rescuing him, “the fishermen, while keeping their distance and wearing gas masks, asked the man why he was floating in the water” and then “took measures to ensure he was not swept out to sea.” When the man had been shot dead by North Korean soldiers, “soldiers in gas masks and protective gear were observed approaching the corpse and burning his body [in the water].” The recurring appearance of gas masks and protective gear suggests that the soldiers were attempting to avoid infection by COVID-19.

N. Korean troops may have shot and burned official to avoid another Kaesong situation

When a North Korean defector returned to the North by swimming over from Gangwha Island on July 19, North Korea’s state-run Rodong Sinmun reported that “a defector suspected of being infected with a deadly virus illegally crossed over the demarcation line, returning to North Korea after three years in the South, which has created an emergency situation in the city of Kaesong.” On July 25, six days later, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un convened an emergency expanded meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) at which he ordered that Kaesong be completely locked down and that harsh punishment be meted out to the unit responsible for the incident.

Whatever the rationale, this violation of “international norms and humanitarian principles” appears to have been an overreaction aimed at avoiding the kind of disciplinary measures taken after the Kaesong incident.

It’s still too early to say whether the North Korean military’s actions reflect a political decision made by North Korea’s supreme leadership. During a preliminary meeting of the WPK Central Military Commission on June 23, Kim Jong-un ordered the “postponement” of a plan to take military action against South Korea because of propaganda leaflets that were being launched across the inter-Korean border by defector groups. Since then, the North hasn’t done anything to make the situation worse; it didn’t even make an official response to South Korea and the US’ joint military exercises.

North refused joint investigation for Mt. Kumgang shooting

Regardless of the circumstances, the North Korean military’s shooting of the man and its burning and desecration of his corpse involved some degree of intentionality. That makes it even more vicious than the shooting of Park Wang-ja, a South Korean tourist to Mt. Kumgang, in 2008. Park was shot and killed by a North Korean guard at 4:50 am on July 11, 2008, when she entered an area that was off-limits to South Korean tourists while walking along the beach. North Korea provided South Korea with a summary of the incident on the day that it occurred and later expressed its “regret,” but refused to hold a joint on-site investigation with South Korea, as demanded by the administration of then President Lee Myung-bak.

Park’s shooting led to the suspension of the Mt. Kumgang tourism program, which nearly 1.5 million South Koreans had taken part in since 1998. Tours to the area are still on hold, 12 years later. In short, unforeseen incidents involving loss of life can have unexpected consequences for inter-Korean relations.

North’s response will dictate how incident affects inter-Korean relations

The South Korean government said it “strongly denounces this barbarous act” and asked North Korea for an “explanation,” “apology,” “punishment of the people responsible” and “measures to prevent its reoccurrence.” For now, Seoul hasn’t suggested holding a joint fact-finding investigation. The manner in which North Korea responds to South Korea’s demands will determine whether this incident is just one more routine tragedy in the 70-year history of division on the Korean Peninsula, or whether it will be the flutter of a butterfly’s wings that unleashes a typhoon on inter-Korean relations. Experts and officials who are familiar with the vicissitudes of inter-Korean relations would only say that the ramifications of this incident cannot be assessed until North Korea’s explanation has been heard.

By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]

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