A sailor from a Navy warship who went missing while on patrol near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the East Sea was found on the morning of the 13th. It was a day after the disappearance.
The Navy said in a notice to the media that "at about 5:58 a.m. today, we found the Navy soldier who went missing yesterday from a patrol mission ship in the East Sea, about 52 kilometers east of Goseong-gun's Gojin-eup in the East Sea."
Later, at about 6:43 a.m. the same day, the Navy recovered the service member's body using a frigate's rigid-hull inflatable boat and transferred it to a separate frigate. The ship carrying the body is scheduled to enter the Donghae base this morning.
In addition, the patrol mission ship the Navy soldier had originally boarded entered the Donghae base at about 8 a.m. today. Police and military investigative authorities plan to investigate the exact circumstances of the incident and the cause of death.
Earlier, the missing soldier, who had boarded a Navy frigate carrying out a patrol mission about 50 kilometers east of Goseong-gun's Gojin-eup, was last seen by the duty officer in charge of an internal patrol between midnight and 2 a.m. the previous day before going missing.
The military became aware of the disappearance when the service member did not report for duty at 8 a.m. the same day.
The Navy immediately launched a search. Together with the Korea Coast Guard, it deployed about 10 ships and multiple aircraft and has been conducting a search for the missing person.
Taking into account that the presumed point of disappearance was in waters near the NLL, the military also notified the North through channels such as the International Common Communication Network for Merchant Ships, which can be received by North Korea.