Unification ministry says 'no communication channel to contact N.K.'

SEOUL, Sept. 24 (Yonhap) -- The unification ministry said Thursday it has no means to communicate with North Korea over its recent killing of a South Korean fisheries official, as Pyongyang cut off all inter-Korean communication lines earlier this year, an official said Thursday.

The defense ministry confirmed earlier that the North shot the 47-year-old official to death and burned his body earlier this week. The ministry also said it sent a message to the North via a communication channel between the U.S.-led United Nations Command (UNC) and North Korea, but it received no response.

The unification ministry said it has no means of communication with the North, and the North has sent no message to the South with regard to the killing.

In June, North Korea cut off inter-Korean communication lines and blew up a liaison office in anger over the sending of anti-Pyongyang leaflets into the North from the South.

julesyi@yna.co.kr
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