( CNN ) North Korea has expressed regret over the killing of four Chinese citizens by an army deserter near the China-North Korea border , China 's foreign ministry said on Wednesday . The runaway soldier shot four Chinese citizens after a robbery attempt in late December in Helong , a city near the Tumen River that divides the two countries . China 's foreign ministry spokesperson said North Korea voiced regret over the incident after China lodged a formal diplomatic complaint against them on Monday . `` The DPRK side expressed its regret that such incident happened , and conveyed its sympathy to the family of the victims , '' said Hong Lei , spokesperson for China 's Ministry of Foriegn Affairs in a press conference . The defector was shot by the Chinese police in a manhunt operation , and has died from injuries suffered during his capture according to the ministry . He added that the incident is being handled as an individual criminal case . There have been previous reports of runaway North Korean soldiers and citizens attempting robbery in search of food . A restaurant owner who lives in Dandong , another city bordering North Korea , recalled a harrowing incident in early 2013 . `` One night , I heard a dog barking outside , so I got up to check what was going on . In the dim lighting , I saw a man dressed like a North Korean soldier stealing things from my restaurant , '' the unnamed owner was quoted in The Global Times . `` I yelled at him and he held up his gun as if he was ready to shoot . I was terrified and ran back to my room . He stole some meat and fled by speedboat . '' In most cases , intruding soldiers were after food , and do not have the intention to harm people , making it rare that such violent cases would occur , reported the Chinese state-run newspaper . Thousands of North Koreans have tried to flee the country in hopes to escape the totalitarian regime . However , China has a uniform policy for sending defectors back to North Korea , ruling them as `` illegal economic migrants . '' READ MORE : Chinese 'snakehead ' gangs offer only escape for North Korea 's defectors . CNN 's KJ Kwon contributed to this report .
North Korea voices regret over killing of four Chinese citizens by army deserter . China had lodged a diplomatic complaint to Pyongyang . A DPRK soldier shot four after a robbery attempt near the border in late December .