Three North Korean soldiers have defected to South Korea across the heavily fortified border this year, a senior military source said Monday, fueling suspicion of lax discipline in the front-line units of the communist nation.
"Three North Korean soldiers have defected to the South this year alone through the western and eastern front," the military source said, asking anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue. "It seems that slack discipline among North Korean soldiers has reached a serious level lately, judging from their defection routes and confessions."
Most recently, a North Korean soldier crossed the western sector of the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas on Oct. 6 after reportedly killing two of his officers. The unnamed defector, known only as an 18-year-old who recently enlisted in the military, has told Seoul authorities he killed his platoon and squad leaders to flee to the South, according to a special investigation team.
Two other soldiers crossed the western and eastern border on Aug. 17 and Oct. 2, respectively, the source said.
Defection via the DMZ is rare as the border is tightly sealed and heavily armed. South and North Korea are still technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
It is widely known that the North selects its front-line soldiers from those with good family backgrounds and they pass tough screening because of concerns they may flee to the South.
On the same day the soldier shot defected, Pyongyang's state media reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un urged vigilance from the security ministry.
There were other signs indicating lax border security near the border region.
A 28-year-old North Korean man who was caught Sept. 9 on the border island of Gyodong passed through several check points from South Pyongan Province while floating to the western island holding onto a log that was swept in floods spawned by typhoons, the source said, citing confessions by defectors.
"After Kim Jong-un took power, military supplies have decreased and beatings and physical abuse have become an issue of concern," an intelligence source said, asking anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue. "There are many complaints as tough orders were delivered to combat units, especially after the top military chief was replaced."
Kim became the head of the communist state after the death of his father Kim Jong-il in December and took the country's top rank of marshal in July. The promotion came days after Kim sacked veteran Army chief Ri Yong-ho to secure his power as the leader of the impoverished nation's 1.2 million-strong armed forces.
Hundreds of North Koreans flee each year across its northern border with China and most make their way to the South, with more than 20,000 having found refuge in the South. Most cite economic hardship and political persecution as the main reasons for leaving home. (Yonhap)