An unidentified person entered North Korea by land from the South on New Year’s Day, the South Korean army reported on Sunday (January 2nd) of an extremely rare crossing of the ultra-fortified border that separates the two countries since 1953.
The individual was detected on Saturday by surveillance equipment in the “Demilitarized zone” (DMZ) which divides the Korean Peninsula at 9:20 p.m. local time, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee reported. “It was confirmed that the person crossed the military demarcation line to the north”, adds the press release.
The person has not yet been identified, a committee official said, adding that South Korean authorities have sent a message to the North regarding the incident. A search operation was launched by the military, without result. And no unusual activity on the part of the North Korean military has been spotted, the statement continued.
Mines, barbed wire and massive military presence
Years of repression and poverty in North Korea led more than 30,000 people to flee to the South in the decades following the Korean War (1950-1953), but crossings in the other direction are extremely rare.
In 2020, North Korean troops shot and burned the body of a South Korean fisheries official who Pyongyang said had illegally crossed the sea border.
The vast majority of North Koreans who escape first go to China before heading south, usually via another country. Only a few have dared to cross the DMZ, riddled with mines and barbed wire, where the military presence is massive on both sides.