N. KOREAN MAN CAUGHT AFTER CROSSING BORDER

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A man presumed to be North Korean has been caught near the East Sea's Civilian Control Line by the South Korean military. A similar incident occurred just 3 months ago in this area when a North Korean man was caught 14 hours after crossing a barbed wire fence. Defense loopholes have yet again come to light.

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The North Korean man caught by South Korea's military was known to have crossed the border through a coastal drainage tunnel wearing a diving suit. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said he was believed to have swum near an observatory south of a general outpost and passed through a drainage conduit placed under fences along the shore. The use of the drainage tunnel was likely to evade South Korea’s maritime patrol system. After an inspection into patrol operations and border facility management the JCS found that though the man was caught on surveillance equipment multiple times after coming to shore, no adequate measures were taken. The JCS also noted the drainage tunnel was poorly equipped to prevent infiltration. Military authorities are taking the latest incident seriously and are conducting a joint onsite probe with plans to draft follow-up measures depending on the findings. The North Korean man was detected moving south from the Civilian Control Line at around 4:20 a.m. Tuesday. He was taken into custody 3 hours later. In the same area last November, a North Korean man crossed over an observation post fence and came all the way down to the Civilian Control Line before being caught some 14 hours later. In the latest case, the military only detected the man when he was near the border checkpoint, again raising concerns on defense readiness.