SEOUL: A North Korean man has crossed the heavily fortified land border with South Korea and is now being held in custody, the South Korean military has confirmed.
The unarmed individual was located on Thursday in the central-west section of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), before being guided by South Korean troops to safety, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Seoul’s army carried out “a standard guiding operation to secure custody”, a process that involved a considerable number of soldiers, it said. After the North Korean was detected early on Thursday morning, the task of bringing him to safety took about 20 hours to complete, the Joint Chiefs of Staff added.
He was mainly still during the day, with South Korean soldiers approaching him at night, it noted.
Seoul has not commented on whether it viewed the border crossing as a defection attempt. There were no immediate signs of unusual military activity in North Korea, the South Korean army said.
Crossing between the two Koreas is relatively rare and extremely risky, as the border area is strewn with mines. It is more common for defectors to first travel across North Korea’s border with China, before heading on to South Korea. (Agencies)
