SECURITY CONCERNS RISE AFTER DEFECTION CASE

[Anchor Lead]

Many problems have been exposed in the military’s response to a North Korean man’s recent defection to the South, according to an investigation that looked into the incident. The man was caught on surveillance camera and warning alarms were issued but the military ignored them. The military wasn't aware of the existence of a drainage tunnel the man swam through until the incident occurred.

[Pkg]

​A North Korean man swam his way to South Korea in the early hours of February 16. According to a probe by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the man walked along a coastal barbed wire fence during which he was caught on camera 8 times. A military patrol system also sounded an alarm twice but guards in the situation room missed it, believing it was a malfunction. The alarm has been sounding more than 3 times per minute on that day due to gusty winds that blew on the east coast and the guards simply ignored the ringing as another case of malfunction.

[Soundbite] Suh Wook(Defense Minister(Nat’l Assembly Intelligence Committee, Feb. 23)) : "It can be noticed only by taking a very close look. The soldiers assumed it was due to strong winds."

Management of facilities was also found to have been poorly conducted. The man passed through a drainage conduit placed below a barbed wire fence. Turns out, the military did not even know it existed until now. Last July, in Ganghwado island, there was a similar defection case via drainage, but that time it was from the South to the North. Following the incident, the military pledged to inspect all floodgates and waterways and take complementary measures. The unit in charge of the task at the time filed a report saying it completed the inspection. But 3 new drainage channels have been found since last week’s incident. Invariably after border crossing incidents, the defense chief apologizes and the military vows to tighten defense readiness, raise alert level and reinforce equipment. Those pledges are being repeated time and again, following continued security failures. The Army's 22nd Division, responsible for the latest incident, has also been under fire last year and in 2012 over security breaches. Some experts point to a structural problem, that the 22nd division is tasked to oversee an area that is too large for them to handle.