A South Korean official who disappeared off a government ship near the disputed sea boundary with North Korea this week may be in North Korea, South Korea's defence ministry says.
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The ministry said the 47-year-old official was on board a government vessel that was checking on potential unauthorised fishing near a South Korean border island.
Colleagues noticed the man was missing at lunch time and found only his shoes still on the vessel, prompting a so-far fruitless search involving aircraft and ships.
The defence ministry said in a statement it had information that the missing official was on North Korean shores on Tuesday afternoon.
The ministry did not say how it obtained that information.
The ministry said officials will contact North Korea to ask about the missing official and take other steps to find more details.
The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, which was operating the vessel the man was on on Monday, said 18 people were on board when the man went missing.
More than 30,000 North Koreans have fled to South Korea in the past 20 years for political and economic reasons but it's highly unusual for a South Korean to defect to North Korea.
Australian Associated Press
