South Korea to cremate North Korea woman found at sea

Aug. 25 (UPI) -- South Korea is to cremate the body of a North Korean woman found at sea.

Seoul's unification ministry said Friday the body of a "North Korean resident" discovered near Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea is to be burnt and buried in a South Korean cemetery reserved for the unnamed, news service Newsis reported.

The decision comes after Pyongyang did not respond to a South Korean message regarding the unclaimed body of North Korean origin.

The message from the unification ministry to the North was sent at 10 a.m. on Thursday through the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission at the demilitarized zone.

But after North Korea ignored the message for 24 hours Seoul decided to take matters into its own hands.

"When North Koreans are found [at sea] they were sent back on boats, and North Korean patrol boats would appear to escort them," the ministry's spokesman said Friday, referring to cases when North Korean bodies are returned after communication with the North. "But there is no way to repatriate the body without a response in 24 hours."

Yeonpyeong Island is located near the city of Incheon, and was the target of North Korea shelling in 2010.

The body was discovered drifting off the coast of the island on Aug. 11, according to the report.

A joint South Korean government investigation concluded the North Korean woman was in her mid- to late-40s.

Another North Korean, a man in his 30s, was recently repatriated at the truce village of Panmunjom, after expressing his desire to return to his country of origin.

A total of 36 North Koreans were voluntarily repatriated to the North in 2017.