South Korean seaman found dead near sensitive border with North Korea

The South Korean Navy early on Monday morning recovered the body of a seaman who went missing at sea over the weekend near the maritime border with North Korea, the navy said in a statement.

The navy had been conducting a search and rescue operation after the seaman went missing from a patrol vessel that was operating off South Korea's eastern coast and found him about 52 kilometres east of the coast, it said.

It did not provide any circumstances surrounding his disappearance.

South Korea had asked North Korea for help and the possible return of the seaman if he had drifted across the so-called Northern Limit Line (NLL) maritime border.