North Korean troops killed missing South Korean, then burned body, Seoul says

South Korean soldiers stand guard at the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, South Korea, April 18, 2018. Picture taken on April 18, 2018. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

A South Korean fisheries official who went missing this week was questioned in North Korean waters before being shot dead by troops who then doused his body in oil and set it on fire, South Korea’s military said on Thursday.

South Korea’s military said evidence suggested the man was attempting to defect to the North when he was reported missing from a fisheries boat on Monday about 10 km (6 miles) south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), a disputed demarcation of military control that acts as the de facto maritime boundary between the two Koreas.