South Korean man shot dead in failed attempt to cross river to North

A South Korean man was shot dead on Monday while attempting to cross over a river along the border with the North, Seouls Yonhap News Agency reported. As the unidentified man tried to cross the Imjin River near the western border in Paju, north of Seoul, at around 2:23 p.m., (0623 GMT), soldiers fired off warning shots and told him to return to the South. When he disobeyed the order and jumped into the river, an Army corporal shot him dead, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. A special team was formed to investigate the incident, and an investigation was under way to determine the man's identity and his motive for the border crossing, military officials were quoted as saying. The Imjin River, which flows from North Korea into the Yellow Sea off the west coast, joins the downstream of the Han River that runs through Seoul.