Man seen crossing to North ‘likely a previous defector’

SEOUL: The person observed crossing the heavily fortified border from South Korea into North Korea last week is presumed to be a North Korean who had previously defected to the South, Seoul’s defence ministry said yesterday.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) had said it carried out a search operation after detecting the person on Saturday on the eastern side of the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas.

“The authorities presume the person is a North Korean defector and are in the process of verifying related facts,” the Ministry of National Defence said in a statement.

The defector is believed to be a man who used his experience as a gymnast to cross border fences and defect to the South across the DMZ in the same area in November 2020, Yonhap news agency reported, without identifying him.

The border crossing, which is illegal in South Korea, came as North Korea carries out strict anti-coronavirus measures since shutting borders in early last year, though it has not confirmed any infections.

While thousands of North Koreans have settled in the South, crossings of the DMZ are rare, with most defectors making their way through China.

Defections from South to North across the DMZ are rarer still, with just a handful recorded in recent years. However, several recent incidents have raised concerns in South Korea over security lapses or delayed responses by troops guarding the border.

When the suspected defector crossed from North Korea last year, he was not detained until 14 hours after he crossed the border, prompting a vow from South Korea’s military to beef up security.