A naval soldier performing security duties in the East Sea went missing on the 12th, and the government requested North Korea's cooperation in the search and repatriation. The Ministry of Unification said on this day, "A naval soldier performing security duties in the East Sea has gone missing and appears to be likely drifting north of the NLL (Northern Limit Line). As our navy is currently searching for the missing person, we have requested (North Korea) to cooperate in the search and repatriation of the missing person from a humanitarian standpoint." Earlier this morning, the Navy announced that a soldier who was aboard a naval ship carrying out guard duties about 50km east of Geojin in the East Sea went missing. According to the military, the rank of the missing soldier was private. The soldier was last seen while the soldier on duty was patrolling the ship between midnight and 2 a.m. Afterwards, when he did not show up during the morning watch shift, the inside of the ship was searched, but he was not found. The Navy is currently deploying ships and aircraft along with the Coast Guard to search for the missing person, and is also alerting fishing boats and nearby merchant ships to the situation.