Man who made border crossing was likely a former North Korean gymnast-defector, Seoul says

The defence ministry said it carried out a search operation after detecting the person over the weekend on the eastern side of the DMZ separating the two Koreas

He is believed to be a man who used his experience as a gymnast to scale border fences and defect to the South in November 2020

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South Korean soldiers stand guard at the demilitarised zone dividing the two Koreas in Paju on Saturday. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:41pm, 3 Jan 2022Updated: 4:18pm, 3 Jan 2022

A man observed crossing the heavily fortified border from South Korea into Pyongyang last week is believed to be a North Korean who had previously defected to the South in 2020 in the same area, Seoul’s defence ministry said on Monday.

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.

A ministry official later told reporters they believe the man, who is his 30s, came to the South in November 2020.

“Footage showed he had a identical look and dress as the person who defected from the North in 2020,” the official said.

Investigators are seeking to determine whether weekend movement detected on the northern side of the border was North Korean troops coming to escort the man, but that at this time the South Korean government does not think it is a case of espionage, the official added.