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North Korea hands over body of South Korean man

By Jiyeon Lee, CNN
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • The body is returned through the truce village of Panmunjom
  • Officials do not know how the man died
  • An identification card is found on him, Red Cross says
  • The North returned bodies two other times in the last decade
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Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- North Korea has returned the body of a South Korean man after it washed up on its southwestern coast, according to South Korea's Red Cross.

The body was returned to South Korea through the truce village of Panmunjom, the Red Cross said.

Officials do not know how the man died. An identification card was found on him.

"We will most likely need to run tests before we can determine if the body matches the information on the identification card," said Red Cross official Jeong Jun-young.

In the last decade, North Korea has on two occasions repatriated South Korean civilian bodies, according to the official.

The two countries have technically remained in a state of war since the Korean War ended in 1953 in a truce. But no formal peace treaty was ever signed.