Seoul hands over body of N. Korean soldier found in river

SEOUL, Sept. 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Wednesday handed over the body of a North Korean soldier found here earlier this month to the North who agreed to receive it through the joint security area, the Defense Ministry said.

The soldier's corpse, clad in a North Korean army uniform, was found Sept. 2 in
the Imjin River that intersects the two Koreas. It will be handed over by the
United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission (UNCMAC), which oversees the
armistice between the two Koreas.

An autopsy was not performed, but South Korean officials believe he drowned as
they did not find any external injuries.

Bodies of North Korean soldiers or civilians are often washed into the South via
rivers that run through the divided Koreas. The corpse of another North Korean
soldier found late July was also returned to the North in August through the
joint security area, better known as the truce village of Panmunjom.

"Col. Curt Taylor of the UNCMAC will first meet with North Korean
representatives at the military demarcation line and guide them to the South
Korean side (of Panmunjom) where they will inspect the North Korean's body,"
an official at the public affairs office of the U.S. Forces Korea said. The
United Nations Command is concurrently headed by the USFK chief, who also heads
the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command.

The soldier's body will then be moved up to the demarcation line by the UNC honor
guard to be picked up by North Koreans, the official said.

Crossing the demarcation line without prior approval from the UNC or the other
side of the border is a violation of the 1953 armistice, which effectively ended
the Korean War, but technically leaves the two Koreas still at war.

bdk@yna.co.kr

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