The South Korean media expressed outrage yesterday at the killing of a female South Korean tourist by a soldier in the North, demanding an apology and a thorough investigation into the incident.
The 53-year-old Seoul housewife was taking an early morning stroll at a holiday resort in North Korea on Friday when she apparently strayed into a military zone and was shot dead.
“A thorough investigation is necessary as firing at an unarmed civilian, even in an off-limits military area, is a disproportionate, excessive reaction,” the conservative Joongang daily said in an editorial.
PHOTO: AFP
Another conservative daily, Chosun, demanded firm government action, saying the North Korean soldier responsible must have known the victim was a tourist.
“The government must make sure the North apologizes, punishes those responsible and pays due compensation to relatives of the victim,” the paper said.
The Dong-a daily, which generally backs the government, said the “barbarous” killing showed the communist state “makes light of human lives.”
The liberal daily Hankyoreh, which said the shooting was “an obviously excessive reaction,” carried the first eyewitness account.
Meanwhile, the head of the South Korean company that manages the resort, Mount Kumgang, left for North Korea to investigate the shooting.
“We will look into how the tragic incident happened and set up measures to bolster safety for tourists,” Hyundai Asan president Yoon Man-joon told journalists.
The South has suspended tours to Mount Kumgang and urged the North to cooperate with its investigation.
But North Korea blamed South Korea for the shooting.
A statement from the North Korea tourism bureau yesterday expressed regret for the death of the woman. But it said responsibility for the incident “entirely rests with the south side” and said Seoul should apologize.
North Korea also said it would not accept a request that South Korean officials visit the resort for an investigation.
The shooting was the first since tours to the resort, developed and managed by Hyundai group, began in 1998.
The North told Hyundai Asan the woman ran after she was warned to halt, and was then shot in the chest and the hip.
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