A North Korean man is in South Korean custody after crossing the heavily guarded border between the two Koreas, the South’s military said Friday.
According to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, the man was spotted near the central-western section of the military demarcation line late Thursday. A military unit responded with a “guiding operation,” safely escorting him out of the heavily mined Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) after identifying themselves as South Korean forces.
The man was reportedly unarmed and taken into custody without resistance. Authorities have yet to determine whether the crossing was an attempted defection, and an investigation is ongoing.
The U.S.-led United Nations Command has been notified of the incident. The South Korean military said there were no immediate signs of unusual activity by North Korean troops in the area.
The border crossing comes amid heightened tensions between the two Koreas, following months of tit-for-tat psychological warfare. North Korea has sent waves of trash-laden balloons into the South, while South Korea had resumed anti-North propaganda broadcasts through border loudspeakers—a tactic recently suspended by Seoul’s new liberal administration under President Lee Jae Myung.
Since taking office last month, President Lee has sought to ease tensions by halting the loudspeaker broadcasts and moving to restrict activist groups from sending propaganda leaflets across the border.
Incidents along the DMZ remain highly sensitive. In April, South Korean troops fired warning shots to repel about ten North Korean soldiers who briefly crossed the line. In June last year, North Korean troops reportedly crossed the border three times while reinforcing their side with landmines and anti-tank barriers.
Diplomatic ties between the two Koreas have sharply deteriorated since the collapse of U.S.-North Korea denuclearization talks in 2019. Since then, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has expanded his nuclear arsenal and issued repeated threats against Washington and Seoul. In response, South Korea’s previous conservative government deepened military cooperation with the U.S. and Japan—moves condemned by Pyongyang as provocations.
The latest border breach adds to growing concerns about stability along the DMZ, one of the most heavily militarized areas in the world.
