Unidentified person crosses from into North Korea from South: Seoul

Seoul, Jan 2 (EFE).- An unidentified person crossed into North Korea from South Korea through the shared militarized border, the South’s military said Sunday.

The person was spotted crossing the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) into North Korea on its eastern fringe on Saturday night after being detected by surveillance equipment, Yonhap news agency reported, citing the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

The troops first detected movement within the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the four-kilometer-wide strip that separates the two countries and which in turn is divided in two by the MDL, at about 9.20 pm.

They then deployed to capture the person, without success, and the person ended up crossing the MDL.

“Due to various geographical conditions, including the mountain terrain, we failed (to capture the person),” a JCS official told reporters, according to Yonhap.

A later fact-finding mission revealed that the person broke through the fence into the DMZ at 6.40 pm, going undetected for some hours.

The identity of the person is being investigated.

Following the incident, the South Korean authorities sent a message to Pyongyang through the military communication line.

Due to the pandemic, North Korea maintains tight border controls and has reportedly issued shoot-to-kill orders.

The incident comes after South Korea beefed up its border defense system with better surveillance equipment following several cases of people getting through the MDL and DMZ.

In February last year, a North Korean swam into South Korea undetected, prompting Defense Minister Suh Wook to offer a public apology. EFE

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