A concrete slab marking the Military Demarcation Line is pictured from the North Korean side of the Joint Security Area. (Aaron Kidd/Stars and Stripes)
A North Korean man was taken into custody by the South Korean military Thursday after crossing the heavily fortified border between the two Koreas, according to the South’s Ministry of National Defense.
The unidentified North Korean crossed the Military Demarcation Line — the actual border that divides the peninsula — Thursday evening, the ministry said in a text message to reporters Friday morning. The message did not specify his motive for crossing.
The North Korean was first spotted in a shallow stream in the midwestern part of the border early Thursday using South Korean surveillance equipment, the ministry said in a separate message Friday, citing the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
South Korea’s military deployed troops to the area and guided the man, who identified himself as a civilian, out of the Demilitarized Zone, the message said. The operation took about 20 hours after the North Korean was first detected, the message added.
No unusual activity by the North Korean military was detected after the incident, the ministry added. The North Korean remains in custody and will be investigated by law enforcement agencies.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung was briefed on the incident and relevant government agencies are continuing their investigation, presidential office spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said Friday at a news conference in Seoul.
North Korean soldiers stationed along the border regularly perform manual labor, such as clearing land, constructing anti-tank barriers and laying mines. About 1,000 North Korean troops are working near the border, the South’s military said this week.
The communist regime recently informed U.N. Command — the multinational body responsible for enforcing the armistice between the two Koreas — of its intent to restart construction projects on its side of the border.
The June 25 message was “meaningful” in that it conveyed North Korea’s interest in preventing an unintended confrontation between the two sides, Ministry of National Defense spokesman Jeon Ha Gyu said during a news conference Monday.
That message came two weeks after Lee ordered a halt to loudspeaker broadcasts aimed at the North along the 160-mile border. The decision was part of an effort to build trust with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the presidential office said June 11. The North stopped its own propaganda broadcasts later that day.
North Korean land-based defections across the demarcation line are rare — most defectors flee via other neighboring countries, particularly China.
A North Korean army staff sergeant was apprehended after crossing the southeastern border on Aug. 20, 2024, nearly two weeks after a North Korean defected to the South via the Yellow Sea off the peninsula’s western coast.
At the time, South Korea’s military warned of possible defections due to the harsh working conditions imposed on North Korean conscripts.
