By Yi Whan-woo
North Korea is apparently strengthening efforts to prevent defections through the demilitarized zone (DMZ).
According to sources, Sunday, more patrols have been seen along the border area during the past couple of months.
They said the North’s soldiers are also laying more anti-personnel mines.
The DMZ is a 4-kilomter-wide buffer along the 250-kilometer-long inter-Korean border.
Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok admitted the move, saying that the ministry is verifying it.
“We’ve been recently told that North Korea has been enhancing its activities on the DMZ, and that’s all we’ve got,” he said.
According to the sources, North Korean sentries, in groups of up to 20, are seen on a patrol, sometimes checking border markers.
Nearly 1,300 markers are spaced every 200 to 300 meters from each other.
They said the new landmines have been placed in areas where its soldiers in the past frequently used as routes to flee to South Korea while they were on duty.
“Under the order of its leader Kim Jong-un, North Korea has been putting all-out efforts effort to block its border guards on the MDL from deserting,” one source added. “It has been placing landmines for that purpose.”
Seoul issued nearly 60 warnings last year alone against North Korean soldiers who allegedly attempted to defect through the border.