A North Korean has defected across the sea border into South Korea, the military said on Tuesday. Civil today is Thursday.
“The South Korean military secured a North Korean suspect and handed him over to relevant authorities,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul said, adding that no unusual movements by the North Korean military had been detected.
The authority added that “the relevant authorities are currently investigating the specific defection process and whether the person wanted to defect to the south.”
The person arrived “on foot” on Gyodong Island off the western coast of the Korean Peninsula near the inter-Korean border this morning and “two defectors were initially spotted, raising the possibility that one of them may have failed to cross,” Yonhap news agency reported, citing unnamed military sources.
South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik told a parliamentary committee that an investigation was “underway with relevant authorities.”
Shin added that it was a “successful mission” and that the South Korean military continued to “monitor and guide” it from the person's departure point.
This is the first time in 15 months that a North Korean has defected to South Korea across the Yellow Sea.
Most defectors usually travel overland to neighboring China first, then enter a third country such as Thailand before reaching South Korea.
The number of North Korean defectors arriving in South Korea tripled last year, to 196 from 67 in 2022, as more senior diplomats and students sought to flee, Seoul said in January.
In May 2023, a family of 9 fled the northern part on a wooden boat.
Difficult living conditions
Experts say the defectors were likely affected by difficult living conditions – including food shortages and inadequate responses to natural disasters – during their stay in the isolated northern part.
“North Korea has been hit by severe floods recently, causing significant damage,” said Cheong Seong-chang, director of Korean Peninsula strategy at the Sejong Institute.
“It is possible that people who were dissatisfied with the North Korean regime took advantage of this internal instability and confusion to defect,” he added.
Northern parts of North Korea experienced heavy rains in late July, with South Korean media reporting a possible death toll of up to 1,500 people.
Pyongyang treats defections as a serious crime, and is believed to severely punish those who attempt them and their family members.
The latest split comes as relations between the two Koreas are at their lowest point in years as North Korea steps up weapons tests and launches balloons laden with waste into its southern neighbor.
In contrast, South Korea continues its so-called loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts, which encourage North Koreans to defect from the regime in Pyongyang.
