Suspected N.Korean Man Caught Near Inter-Korean Border

A “suspicious man” presumed to be from North Korea was caught after crossing into South Korea via the eastern border, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said today.

He is said to have been trying to defect to the South. The man was detected at around 4:20 a.m. through a CCTV surveillance camera as he was moving south near a military checkpoint located inside a restricted area north of the Civilian Control Line near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on the east coast, the JCS said in a statement.

After a three-hour manhunt, the man was taken into custody around 7:20 a.m. It is not known if he is a soldier or a civilian, and how he was able to cross the heavily fortified border.

"JCS is also checking the overall surveillance posture across the border. The North Korean military has not shown any unusual moves as of now," the statement read.

The South’s military ‘safely’ took into custody a North Korean man ten hours after he allegedly crossed into its borders in November last year.

Over 30,000 North Koreans have reportedly fled to South Korea since the Korean War for political and economic reasons.

Seoul has taken steps to improve the border surveillance system in the wake of a series of security breaches.