South Korean Navy Recovers Body of Missing Sailor in East Sea

The Republic of Korea Navy recovered the body of a private first class on Monday, July 13, 2026, at 6:43 a.m. after the sailor disappeared from a frigate on July 10. The sailor was reported missing during a morning roll call while the vessel was conducting a routine security and surveillance mission approximately 50 kilometers east of Geojin in Gangwon Province, near the Northern Limit Line maritime border with North Korea.

A large-scale search operation involving 10 vessels and several aircraft from the Navy and the South Korean Coast Guard located the body at 5:58 a.m. on Monday, roughly 52 kilometers east of Geojin. The sailor was found without a life jacket. Following the recovery, the body was transferred to a frigate bound for Donghae Naval Base.

Due to the proximity to the maritime border, the South Korean government notified North Korea of the incident via an international maritime communication network. The Ministry of Unification of South Korea requested cooperation on humanitarian grounds, sending the request via text messages to reporters because no active communication lines exist between the two nations. The Ministry of Unification later reported that North Korea provided no response to the request.

Civilian police and military investigative authorities are now conducting a joint investigation into the exact circumstances of the disappearance and the cause of death, which includes a review of ship surveillance footage.