South Korea reports North Korean man defecting across sea border

MADRID 11 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –

South Korean authorities reported this Friday the defection of a North Korean man across the maritime border, the third in two months, amid increased tensions on the peninsula and the region.

South Korean military sources consulted by the Yonhap news agency have indicated that the Army monitored his movements and then helped him reach South Korea when he was in a small wooden boat near the border island of Baengnyeong, in the Yellow Sea.

“The operation was carried out normally at all times,” they said, without giving more details about the identity of the deserter and the operation, which took place three weeks ago, on September 17.

The announcement came just two days after Pyongyang decided to completely close all road and rail connections on the border, in a measure that implies “completely separating” the two countries and contravenes unification aspirations.

Seoul acknowledged that they had been seeing this type of stockings for months. In April, authorities began erecting anti-tank barriers and reinforcing the fence on their side of the Demilitarized Zone that serves as a border, and in August completed the removal of sleepers on the two railway lines.