N.Korean crosses armed border in potential defection to South

South Korea’s navy stated on Tuesday it had captured a North Korean particular person who crossed the closely fortified border between the 2 international locations in a uncommon potential defection amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The individual was discovered on Tuesday morning close to a checkpoint on the jap aspect of the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) separating the rival Koreas, prompting an pressing search operation, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) stated.
“We have taken that unidentified individual into custody and are conducting an investigation,” the JCS stated in an announcement.

The uncommon border crossing got here as North Korea’s extended lockdowns rolled again the variety of defectors arriving in South Korea to an all-time low final 12 months.

Some 200 North Koreans settled within the South final 12 months, down round 80% from 2019, Unification Minister Lee In-young has stated, citing the reclusive state’s shutdown of its frontiers in January 2020.
The final publicly recognized case was in November when a North Korean man defected to the South through the jap DMZ.
Cross-border ties soured after denuclearisation talks between Pyongyang and Washington stalled since 2019.
A spat simmered in September after North Korean troops shot useless a South Korean fisheries official who went lacking at sea, fanning public and political uproar within the South.

In July, North Korean chief Kim Jong Un declared an emergency and sealed off a border city after an individual with COVID-19 signs illegally crossed the border into the North from the South.
North Korea has not confirmed any COVID-19 instances, although Seoul officers have solid doubt on there being zero instances citing the nation’s energetic exchanges with China, the place the virus first emerged, previous to its border closure.