Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun says a joint inter-Korean investigation into the recent killing of a South Korean fisheries official by North Korean soldiers should be carried out as soon as possible.
Chung told a local radio station on Monday that a fact-finding probe should be conducted soon to prevent the incident from developing into a situation that hinders the improvement of ties between Seoul and Pyongyang.
The Moon Jae-in administration proposed a day earlier that two Koreas cooperate on the case and reopen their severed bilateral military communication line.
But as of Monday morning that communication line remained inoperative, according to Seoul's defense ministry.
On Tuesday, the fisheries official was shot dead by North Korean soldiers and his body burned, a day after he disappeared from a patrol vessel in waters near the western border island of Yeonpyeong.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un issued a rare apology on Friday over the incident.
In a letter sent to Cheong Wa Dae, the regime said soldiers fired more than 10 shots at the South Korean man who had "illegally" entered their waters, but claimed they did not set his body on fire.
<Photo: Yonhap News>
