A South Korean army division faces embarrassing questions after a North Korean soldier travelled unchecked across one of the world’s most fortified borders and knocked on a guard post asking for asylum.
The 22nd division based in the northeastern county of Goseong has been placed under disciplinary inspection over the incident on the night of October 2, a Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) official told journalists on Wednesday.
“Inspectors have confirmed a North Korean soldier knocked on the door of the guard outpost and South Korean soldiers answered the knocks,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Yonhap news agency said the division could face sweeping disciplinary measures, partly for trying to cover up the circumstances of the soldier’s defection.
The defector made his way through rows of electrified fencing dividing the two Koreas under cover of darkness.
Initially, military officials on the South Korean side said he had been detected by surveillance cameras and guided to safety.