SOUTH KOREA FIRES OVER BORDER AS NORTH HUNTS FOR DEFECTOR

▶ Seoul says 20 warning shots were intended to keep searchers away from demarcation line

South Korean guards fired warning shots across the border with North Korea yesterday as a soldier from the North defected, officials said.

A South Korean defence ministry official said up to 20 warning shots were fired at North Korean troops who approached too closely to the military demarcation line, apparently in search of the missing soldier.

The defection took place about five weeks after another North Korean soldier suffered critical gunshot wounds during a dash across the border.

Two North Korean civilians who were found in a fishing boat on Wednesday had also sought to defect, officials in the South said.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula were already high after Pyongyang accelerated testing of its missile and nuclear programmes this year in defiance of international pressure.

The rash of defections also threatens to complicate South Korea’s efforts to ensure the smooth running of Winter Olympics next year, which begin in Pyeongchang in February.

South Korean president Moon Jae-in said on Tuesday he had proposed postponing major military drills with the United States until after the Games in an attempt to soothe relations, although officials in Seoul later said any proposed delay would depend on the North not engaging in any provocations.

Seoul said that more than 880 North Koreans have defected to the South this year, but the vast majority do so through China.

Going through China, North Korea’s neighbour and sole major ally, means they avoid the fortified demilitarised zone, which has landmines, barbed wire, surveillance cameras, electric fencing and thousands of armed troops on both sides.

The number of defectors arriving in the South has dropped since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un took power in late 2011, a trend defectors and experts said may be linked to a crackdown by Pyongyang.

While the North said nothing about the defections, state media denied US allegations this week that Pyongyang was behind recent cyber attacks.

Washington publicly blamed North Korean hackers for a cyber attack in May that crippled hospitals, banks and other companies. Researchers also said the North was probably behind attacks on virtual currency exchanges.

The South’s military drills with the US have angered the North and complicated relations with China. South Korea said it needed the drills to guard against the North’s missile and nuclear ambitions, but Pyongyang described them as preparation for war.

The proposed delay in drills was discussed during a summit between Mr Moon and Chinese president Xi Jinping last week after the proposal was submitted to Washington, an official at South Korea’s presidential Blue House said this week.

China and Russia proposed a “freeze for freeze” arrangement under which North Korea would stop its nuclear and missile tests in exchange for a halt to the exercises, but there has been little interest from Washington or Pyongyang.

In yesterday’s defection, a low-ranking soldier crossed the border near a South Korean guard post in the centre-west region at 8.04am, South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff spokesman Roh Jae-cheon said. No shots were fired at the soldier.

Surveillance equipment detected him despite heavy fog that limited visibility to about 100 metres, Mr Roh said.

About half an hour later, South Korean guards fired about 20 warning shots at North Korean troops near the border who were, they presumed, searching for the defector, said a defence ministry official in the South.

Gunfire from the North was detected later but the target could not be determined, the official said.

Many North Koreans defect through China, but some take direct route using hazardous land and sea crossings