S. Korea to cremate body of presumed N. Korean man as Pyongyang remains unresponsive

Lee Hyo-jung, deputy spokesperson of the unification ministry handling inter-Korean affairs, speaks during a press conference at the government complex in Seoul, Jan. 16. Yonhap

South Korea's unification ministry said Friday it will cremate the body of a presumed North Korean man found near a western island last month, as Pyongyang has not responded to its offer for a return.

Last week, the Ministry of Unification offered to send the body and his belongings back via the truce village of Panmunjom on humanitarian grounds and urged the North to clarify its stance through the now-suspended inter-Korean liaison communication channel.

"As North Korea has not expressed any intent to acquire the body, we plan to handle it as a death without known kin through cooperation with the local government," Lee Hyo-jung, the ministry's deputy spokesperson, told reporters.

The body was discovered in waters off Ganghwa Island in the Yellow Sea on May 19 and the man, believed to be in his 20s or 30s, appeared to be a North Korean, given his belongings that included a North Korean train ticket.

The ministry was not able to send a related notice to the North as Pyongyang has remained unresponsive to daily routine calls with South Korea through the liaison communication channel since April.

In November last year, the government proposed to return the body of a presumed North Korean woman found near the inter-Korean border in July. But the South cremated the body as the North did not respond to the offer.

Since 2010, the ministry has sent back a total of 23 bodies of North Koreans who were found in the South, most recently in November 2019. (Yonhap)