This week’s killing and subsequent immolation of a South Korean civilian by North Korean soldiers has sparked outrage. But the incident also serves as a reminder that Pyongyang is incapable of being trusted with nuclear warheads and intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The 47-year-old civilian was reported missing on Monday after his fishing vessel was operating in the Yellow Sea near the North Korean maritime border, according to South Korean officials. Media reports suggest that Seoul believes the civilian wanted to defect. It is presumed that he jumped into the water with a life jacket, hoping to be picked up by a North Korean patrol. Unfortunately for the man, when he was discovered by a patrol boat, the soldiers donned gas masks and interrogated him as he floated in the water. Learning from intercepted North Korean military communications, South Korea says that the man is believed to have then been shot dead on higher orders and his body set on fire. The execution was apparently carried out in furtherance of Kim Jong Un’s strict quarantine orders in response to the coronavirus pandemic.