South Korea detains North Korean border crosser – DW – 07/04/2025
South Korea's military detained a person who crossed the border from North Korea, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Friday.
The person crossed the military demarcation line, which sits exactly halfway within the Demilitarized Zone that divides the Korean Peninsula, on Thursday.
"The military identified the individual in question in the MDL area ... and conducted a normal operation to guide (the individual) and secured them," the JCS said in a text message to reporters.
They confirmed that the person is in custody and will be subject to investigation by relevant law enforcement agencies.
The JCS did not provide further details of the individual, including the motive behind the crossing.
They did, however, say no unusual actions by the North Korean military were detected.
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About 34,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea since the Korean War in the 1950s.
However, fewer North Koreans have recently been able to cross the DMZ successfully.
It is a 248-kilometer (155-mile) long, 4-kilometer-wide border, guarded by land mines, tank traps and combat troops on both sides, in addition to barbed-wire fences.
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