South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, or JCS
had mentioned it carried out a search operation after detecting the individual on
Saturday on the jap facet of the Demilitarised Zone, or DMZ separating the
two Koreas.
“The authorities presume the individual is a
North Korean defector and are within the means of verifying associated information,”
the Ministry of National Defence mentioned in an announcement on Monday.
A ministry official later advised reporters they
imagine the person, who is his 30s, got here to the South in November 2020.
Footage confirmed he had a equivalent look and
gown because the individual who defected from the North in 2020,” the official
mentioned.
Investigators are looking for to find out whether or not
weekend motion detected on the northern facet of the border was North Korean
troops coming to escort the person, however that presently the South Korean
authorities doesn’t suppose it’s a case of espionage, the official added.
South Korean media have reported the person had
expertise as a gymnast that helped him scale the fences, however the official mentioned
they might not affirm that.
The official mentioned North Korea has acknowledged
the South’s messages on inter-Korean hotlines in regards to the incident, however has not
offered any extra particulars in regards to the man’s destiny.
The border crossing, which is unlawful in South
Korea, got here as North Korea carries out strict anti-coronavirus measures since
shutting borders in early 2020, although it has not confirmed any infections.
In September 2020, North Korea apologised
after its troops shot lifeless a South Korean fisheries official who went lacking
at sea and burned his stays, in what it mentioned have been anti-pandemic precautions.
Two months earlier, North Korea had declared a
nationwide emergency and sealed off a border city after a North Korean defector
with reported COVID-19 signs illegally crossed again from the South.
DANGEROUS BORDER
While 1000’s of North Koreans have settled
within the South, crossings of the DMZ are uncommon, with most defectors making their
manner by China.
Defections from South to North throughout the DMZ
are rarer nonetheless, with only a handful recorded lately.
However, a number of current incidents have raised
issues in South Korea over safety lapses or delayed responses by troops
guarding the border.
When the suspected defector crossed from North
Korea in 2020, he was not detained till 14 hours after he crossed the border,
prompting a vow from South Korea’s army to beef up safety.
In Saturday’s case, the individual’s presence close to
the border went unnoticed for almost three hours after CCTV cameras recorded
the individual scaling a fence and tripping alarms, the army mentioned in a briefing
on Sunday.
South Korean troops launched a search
operation after recognizing the individual at 9:20 p.m., however couldn’t cease their
crossing into the North at round 10:40 p.m.
In June, South Korea introduced it could
fast-track the acquisition of a rail-mounted robotic, and a man-made
intelligence-enabled video and audio system, to spice up safety alongside the
border.
