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| A road to a checkpoint inside an area south of the Civilian Control Line in the east coast border town of Goseong, Gangwon Province, is empty, Tuesday, after entry was restricted following a North Korean man's crossing into South Korea earlier in the day. / Yonhap |
By Kang Seung-woo
The military finds itself in the hot seat again following the capture of a North Korean, Tuesday, who swam across the eastern maritime border undetected.
Making the situation worse for military authorities, the latest border crossing took place in the jurisdiction of the same front-line Army unit that has failed to detect two previous infiltrations. One happened last November and the other in 2012, prompting embarrassed military officials to vow to keep South Korea's borders secure.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced, Tuesday, that the North Korean was caught in the Civilian Control Line (CCL) in the eastern border town of Goseong, Gangwon Province, earlier that day. The CCL is a buffer zone of the Demilitarized Zone. The JCS added that he likely swam south near the Unification Observatory and passed through a drainage tunnel located at the bottom of an iron fence on the inter-Korean border.
Even though surveillance cameras spotted the North Korean multiple times after he came ashore, the military failed to take appropriate action, while the drainage tunnel was also poorly equipped to prevent infiltrations. The North Korean was taken into custody following a three-hour manhunt after he was first spotted by surveillance cameras at a checkpoint. He is currently being questioned by investigators. The man in his 20s reportedly expressed an intention to defect to the South.
Defense Minister Suh Wook apologized for the repeated security failure, Wednesday.
"As the minister, I am sorry for the people who were disappointed by the lax border watch," Suh told the National Assembly National Defense Committee.
"After thoroughly investigating the incident, the military will take measures to prevent similar incidents from recurring."
The JCS also said in a statement earlier in the day, "We take this situation seriously and an onsite probe is underway with the ground forces command. Depending on the probe results, we will come up with follow-up measures and take stern action."
Tuesday's incident happened after the military took measures to enhance border security following a series of undetected crossings by North Koreans.
In November 2020, a North Korean civilian crossed the border, also in Goseong, and the same Army unit captured him about 14 hours after his intrusion, during which he damaged a three-layer barbed wire fence protecting the border. At the time, malfunctioning sensors on the forward-facing fences, which sound an alarm upon physical contact, were blamed.
In July of the same year, the military failed to notice and prevent a North Korean defector, who was facing sexual assault allegations here, from returning to the North. The military became aware of the incident after a report from the North's state media.
In 2019, a North Korean wooden boat carrying four sailors crossed the sea border and arrived in Samcheok Port, Gangwon Province, 130 kilometers south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), without being detected by the military.
In October 2012, the eastern front-line unit found itself in hot water after its soldiers on duty were unaware of a border crossing by a North Korean defector until he knocked on the door of the soldiers' barracks.
"The military authorities said the man was caught near a checkpoint of the CCL, which means he walked undeterred for several kilometers from the coast," Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun, an independent lawmaker, said in Facebook.
"If it was an armed invasion by North Korean special forces soldiers, we would have fallen into uncontrollable turmoil. The border security was breached and initial responses were poor, in other words, it was a prime example of a hole in our defenses."
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