North Korean troops ‘shot South Korean official and burned his body’

(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

North Korean troops shot a South Korean government official who may have attempted to defect and set his body on fire, after they found him on a floating object in water near their disputed sea boundary, according to Seoul.

A South Korean announcement said the man disappeared from a government ship checking on potential unauthorised fishing in an area south of the boundary on Monday, a day before he was found in North Korean waters.