“North Korean defectors who defected a year ago”

◀ anchor ▶

On New Year’s Day, the government confirmed the identity of the person who crossed the front fence in Gangwon-do, and it turned out to be a man in his 30s who defected by jumping over the fence in November 2020.

The military authorities dispatched an investigation team to the scene to investigate how the North Korean defectors were missed even following checking the CCTV.

Reporter Hyo-Jeong Nam reported.

◀ Report ▶

The government said that those who defected to North Korea on New Year’s Day were defectors who defected to the same region a year ago.

The military authorities checked the CCTV installed on the Civilian Control Line in Goseong-gun, Gangwon-do and confirmed that they were almost identical in size and appearance to a man who defected from North Korea in November of last year.

It is known that Mr. A has lost contact since last Thursday, two days before North Korea.

North Korean defector A is said to have been a gymnast in North Korea, with a height of less than 160 cm and a weight of 50 kg.

It is said that Mr. A escaped North Korea by lightly jumping over the iron fence just as he did at the time of his defection.

At this time, the alarm of the light net installed on the fence sounded and the military was dispatched to the scene, but the military returned without taking any action because there was no damage to the fence.

Our military later confirmed through a thermal imaging camera that three North Korean soldiers were taking Mr. A from the north of the DMZ.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff is investigating whether the vigilante posture at the scene allowed Mr. A to safely approach the DMZ and defect to North Korea.

[김준락/합동참모본부 공보실장]

“We have sent 17 people, including the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff warfare inspection office, to the scene and are conducting an on-site investigation into the overall situation at the time, including the initial military action and movement route.”

Person A crossed the GOP fence at around 6:40 pm on the 1st of the new year, and was caught on CCTV at this time, but while the military did not take any action for nearly 3 hours, infiltrated the DMZ and crossed the Military Demarcation Line at 10:40 pm. I went over and over.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff is expected to announce the results of the field investigation as early as tomorrow.

This is Hyo-Jung Nam from MBC News.

Video coverage: Lee Se-hoon / Video editing: Kom-geun

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