A man who was spotted crossing the border into North Korea on New Year's Day is highly likely to have been a North Korean man who defected to the South through the same area in November 2020, according to a South Korean Defense Ministry official.
After the defection, the man was working as a janitor and complained of life in South Korea due to economic difficulties, according to local media reports. Repeated border breaches have led to criticism of the military for its failure to prevent them.
The latest border crossing occurred within the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, in Gangwon Province in South Korea's north on Saturday. Security camera footage near the border caught a man crossing a barbed wire fence on the South Korean side, but guards did not notice it, according to the official. The military realized after about three hours that someone was in the DMZ but could not catch the person.
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The identification was made partially based on the footage.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the man, who had entered the South by breaching a 3-meter-tall fence, later described himself to an intelligence service as having experience in gymnastics.
Yonhap has also quoted a Unification Ministry official as saying that the government had provided adequate support to the defector to help him make a living in the South.
The Defense Ministry official cast doubt on the defector being a North Korean spy.
