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South Korea investigates reports of missing government official found in North Korean waters
- The 47-year-old from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries disappeared on Monday from a South Korean vessel near the border
- Meanwhile, South Korean president Moon Jae-in has urged the UN and the international community to support an inter-Korean peace treaty
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South Korea’s defence ministry on Wednesday said it was looking into reports a government official had been found in North Korean waters after he went missing while on duty aboard a ship near the maritime border between the two countries.
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The 47-year-old official from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries disappeared from a government vessel that oversees South Korean fishing boats operating near the sea border off the country’s western coast before noon on Monday.
Colleagues found only his shoes on the vessel and reported his disappearance to the coastguard, prompting an intensive search operation.
“According to military intelligence, he was apparently found in North Korean waters late Tuesday and we are following this clue,” the ministry said in its statement. “We will take necessary steps, including investigating how he went missing and checking related facts with North Korea.”
It is quite rare for a South Korean citizen to defect to the North, with which it technically remains in open conflict as the Korean war ended with an armistice in 1953 instead of a peace treaty.
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