North Korean man crosses the heavily fortified border to South Korea
[July 05, 2025]
By KIM TONG-HYUNG
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — An unidentified North Korean man
crossed the heavily fortified land border separating the two
Koreas and is in South Korean custody, the South’s military said
Friday.
The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military identified
and tracked the individual near the central-west section of the
military demarcation line and conducted a “guiding operation”
before taking the person into custody Thursday night. |
A North Korean military guard post, loudspeaker, top left, and South
Korean army soldiers, bottom right, are seen from Paju, South Korea,
near the border with North Korea, on June 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) |
|
It said authorities plan to investigate the border crossing and
did not immediately say whether they view the incident as a
defection attempt.
The Joint Chiefs said it notified the U.S.-led United Nations
Command about the incident and had not detected any immediate
signs of unusual military activity by the North.
According to the Joint Chiefs, a South Korean military team
approached the unarmed North Korean man after detecting him and,
after identifying themselves as South Korean troops, guided him
safely out of the mine-strewn Demilitarized Zone that divides
the two Koreas.
Border tensions have flared in recent months as the two Koreas
traded Cold War-style psychological warfare, with North Korea
sending thousands of trash-filled balloons toward the South and
South Korea blasting anti-Pyongyang propaganda through
loudspeakers.
Since taking office last month, South Korea’s new liberal
President Lee Jae Myung has made efforts to rebuild trust with
North Korea, halting the frontline loudspeaker broadcasts and
moving to ban activists from flying balloons carrying propaganda
leaflets across the border.
In April, South Korean troops fired warning shots to repel about
10 North Korean soldiers who briefly crossed the military
demarcation line. The South’s military said the soldiers
returned to North Korean territory without incident and that the
North didn’t return fire.
In June last year, North Korean troops crossed the border three
times, prompting South Korea to fire warning shots. Experts
suggested these crossings may have been accidental, occurring as
North Korean troops added anti-tank barriers, planted mines and
carried out other work to bolster border defenses amid
escalating tensions between the Koreas.
Diplomacy between the war-divided Koreas has derailed since the
collapse of denuclearization talks between Washington and
Pyongyang in 2019, which prompted North Korean leader Kim Jong
Un to accelerate the expansion of his military nuclear program
and threaten nuclear conflict toward Washington and Seoul. South
Korea’s previous conservative government responded by
strengthening its combined military exercises with the United
States and Japan, which the North condemned as invasion
rehearsals.
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