The South Korean Defense Ministry has stated that the person who crossed the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the border that separates the two Koreas, on Saturday is a North Korean defector.
A representative of the South Korean government has explained to the Yonhap news agency that the images and data collected by the security cameras show a man in his thirties. It is also thought that it may be the same person who came to the South crossing the border on foot in early February 2020.
For now, the authorities have ruled out that he is a spy. “The images have made it possible to recognize the same man, an alleged North Korean defector,” added the source.
The person was spotted crossing on foot, along its eastern fringe, the Military Demarcation Line towards North Korea on saturday night, January 1, after being detected by the surveillance teams installed in the divide, according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff explained on Sunday.
It is also reported that the defector had been working in South Korea as a cleaner, so the South Korean government has conveyed to Pyongyang the wish that man be protected.
The incident occurred at a time when Seoul is trying to increase its defense system on the border between the two Koreas to prevent such crossings.
Dangerous mission
Crossing the border is a dangerous activity. Very few dare to cross the DMZ, as it is full of explosive mines and with a large military presence on both sides. In 2020, a controversial assassination took place by the North Korean military, shooting and burning a South Korean fisheries official who, according to Pyongyang, illegally crossed the maritime border.
The current situation in North Korea has caused more and more people to try to flee to the South in search of a better life. In the last decade, nearly 30,000 people have tried to escape. What is striking in this case is that the person who crossed the border did so to the North Korean side, something unusual.
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