South Korean Crosses Border in Rare Defection to North Korea
South Korean authorities are now on the hunt against a man who allegedly crosses the armed border in a rare defection to North Korea.
According to South Korea’s military, they carried out a search operation after detecting the person on the eastern side of the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas. The crossing is said to be uncommon as some individuals have fled to the south in the decades since the Korean War concluded with an armistice due to repression and poverty.
“We’ve confirmed that the person crossed the military demarcation line border about 10.40 pm and defected to the North,” the military joint chiefs of staff (JCS) said.
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The JCS stated it could not confirm if the individual was alive. However, they issued a message to the North via a military hotline requesting protection, based on the article of The Guardian.
The illegal border crossing occurs as North Korea implements strong anti-coronavirus measures following the closure of its borders in early 2020. However, a controversy arose in September 2020 after the North Korean military shot dead a South Korean fisheries official who went missing at sea, for which Pyongyang blamed anti-virus laws and apologized.
Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, had proclaimed a national emergency and locked off a border town two months prior when a North Korean defector who had previously fled to the South returned to the North and claimed to be suffering from symptoms. The number of North Korean defectors coming in the South has also reached an all-time low as a result of the North’s lengthy lockdowns and limitations on inter-provincial transit.
The great majority of North Koreans who escape first go to China before making their way to the South, generally via another nation. Only a handful have attempted to cross the DMZ, which is laced with landmines and has a substantial military presence on both sides.
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