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
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.
South Korean crosses armed border in rare defection to North
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.
South Korean media have reported the man had experience as a gymnast that helped him scale the fences, but the official said they could not confirm that.
The official said North Korea has acknowledged the South’s messages on inter-Korean hotlines about the incident, but has not provided any more details about the man’s fate.
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Rare reversal: South Korean defects to the North across heavily fortified DMZ
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 in 2020, he was not detained until 14 hours after he crossed the border, prompting a vow from South Korea’s military to strengthen security.
‘Abandoned by 3 countries’: the Chinese-North Koreans in South Korea
In Saturday’s case, the person’s presence near the border went unnoticed for nearly three hours after CCTV cameras recorded the person scaling a fence and tripping alarms, the military said in a briefing on Sunday.
South Korean troops launched a search operation after spotting the person at 9.20pm (local time), but could not stop their crossing into the North at around 10.40pm.
In June, South Korea announced it would fast track the acquisition of a rail-mounted robot, and an artificial intelligence-enabled video and audio system, to boost security along the border.
