A key ruling camp figure said that North Korea poured gasoline on and then incinerated a missing South Korean fisheries official from a distance as his body laid on top of flotsam after being fatally shot.

According to Yonhap News Agency on Tuesday, the figure made the claim citing a briefing from the Defense Ministry.

The unnamed official then called for a prompt investigation jointly conducted by the two Koreas, as proposed by the presidential office.

This comes after Pyongyang claimed the slain official disappeared under the sea after being shot, and that its troops only burned the flotsam.

The ruling party figure, however, denied main opposition People Power Party(PPP) floor leader Joo Ho-young's claims based on military intelligence that the North applied the fuel directly to the body from a short distance.