A N. Korean defector who crossed the DMZ and knocked on the door of barracks occupied by S. Korean soldiers has alarmed the nation, according to JoongAng Ilbo.
Making matters worse was an apparent effort by the Army unit in question to cover up the lax security exposed by the ease with which the N. Korean defector had entered their living quarters. The initial report by the involved unit had suggested that the defector had first been spotted by surveillance cameras.
“Despite what the unit initially reported, the investigation has shown so far that the North Korean defector was able to reach the general outpost without any restraint and was able to knock on the door of the barracks before expressing his will to defect,” said an official who participated in the investigation ordered by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
On October 2nd at around 9:30 pm the defector, a N. Korean soldier, crossed a barbed wire fence on the northern side of the DMZ, then another electrified fence, according to the investigation. On the S. Korean side of the DMZ the defector used his clothing to protect himself from the barbed wire atop the 13-foot fence he climbed over.
He then spotted the lights of the S. Korean barracks about 10 meters (33 feet) from the fence. At 11:19 pm he knocked on the door of the barracks. He expressed his desire to defect to the S. Korean soldiers on duty in the barracks and was taken into custody.
The JCS probe, aided by the National Intelligence Service (NIS), is seeking to learn how the defector got through the fences on the N. Korean side and where he climbed over the S. Korean fence. The ease of the DMZ crossing has likely also raised questions as to the possible existence of invasion tunnels in the vicinity.
S. Koreans had believed that defections across the DMZ were practically impossible until three N. Korean soldiers accomplished the feat this year. On Sunday one N. Korean soldier shot to death two superiors at a guard post on the road to Kaesong, then ran down the road across the border to the guard post on the South’s side.
The recent defections across the DMZ have not only raised alarm bells about the lax security maintained by the South’s military units but is raising questions about the stability of the North’s military under new leader Kim Jong-un, especially after his ouster earlier this year of the former top general Ri Yong-ho.
Most observers believe the ouster was motivated by the desire to take back control of mining rights from the military. Mineral exports are believed to be the North’s main source of foreign currency.
