North Korean civilian crosses heavily fortified DMZ into South

SEOUL, July 4 (UPI) -- A North Korean man who identified himself as a civilian crossed the heavily fortified military demarcation line between the two Koreas and was taken into custody, the South's military said Friday.

The individual was picked up by the South Korean military on Thursday night, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a text message to reporters. No motive was immediately given for his crossing.

"The military identified the individual in the MDL area, tracked and monitored him, conducted a normal induction operation and secured the individual," the JCS said. "The relevant organizations will investigate the details of the southward movement."

"There have been no unusual movements by the North Korean military as of now," the message added.

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In a background briefing with reporters, a JCS official said the North Korean man was first detected by a military monitoring device on the South Korean side of the border around 3 a.m. Thursday.

The operation to secure and guide the individual out of the demilitarized zone took 20 hours total, the official said.

The two Koreas are separated by the 2.5-mile-wide DMZ, which is one of the most heavily fortified and mined borders on earth.

A North Korean soldier defected across the DMZ in August, but direct land crossings have been historically rare. Most escapees traverse the northern border with China.

Over 34,000 North Koreans have fled to the South to escape dire economic conditions and the country's brutally repressive regime. However, arrivals plummeted after Pyongyang sealed its borders and ramped up security in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The number of North Korean defectors who arrived in South Korea reached 236 in 2024, up 20% from the previous year, according to data from the South's Unification Ministry.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung was briefed on the crossing, spokesperson Kang Yu-jun told reporters Friday. Lee has moved to lower tensions in the border area during his first month in office and recently ordered the suspension of propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts at the DMZ.