South Korea recovers missing sailor's body off east coast

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Seoul: South Korea's Navy has recovered the body of a sailor who went missing while serving aboard a navy vessel on patrol near the country's eastern maritime border with North Korea, capping a more than 21-hour search.

The sailor went missing early Sunday after failing to report for duty on a warship patrolling near the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto naval border between the two Koreas. A large-scale search involving naval ships and planes began immediately.

The body was discovered at 5:58 a.m. on Monday in waters 52 kilometres east of Geojin on South Korea's east coast and later transferred to a Navy vessel. Seoul had requested humanitarian assistance from North Korea in the search on Sunday, expressing concerns that the sailor crossed into the maritime boundary. However, South Korea's Unification Ministry reported that Pyongyang had not responded.

Civilian police and military investigators will work together to investigate the sailor's disappearance and discover the exact cause of death.