Repeated security lapses

The extent of the security lapse when a North Korean man swam across the eastern maritime border earlier this month was much more serious than initially reported. Border guards were negligent, and the military failed to inspect drainage pipes under barbed wire fences set up along the shore.

According to the results of an investigation by the Joint Chiefs of Staff into the Feb. 16 incident, the man was spotted on military surveillance cameras along the east coast 10 times after he swam ashore to the South in a diving suit. But soldiers failed to detect him even after alarms went off. The soldier in charge of monitoring the coastal surveillance equipment treated the warnings as system errors.

The military said the drainage pipe he passed through was one of three in the area that had been omitted from a list of facilities for military oversight. The pipe is reported to be barely visible, but this cannot be an excuse, given that the military ordered all coastal guard units to check barriers inside the drainage channels after a North Korean defector returned to the North by using one on Ganghwa Island as a passage way last July.

It also defies understanding that it took more than 30 minutes before the situation was reported to the relevant military unit. This is reminiscent of another security lapse last November when a North Korean civilian was detained 14 hours after crossing the inter-Korean border by jumping over barbed wire fences.

The Ministry of National Defense vowed to punish those responsible for the breach, tighten discipline and revamp its surveillance system along the border. Yet beefing up security is easier said than done. What’s important is that a series of problems that had previously occurred were yet again repeated. With renewed vigor and determination, the military should come up with realistic and effective measures that can prevent any recurrence of such security lapses.