North Korean Man Crosses Heavily Fortified Border Into South, Detained by Troops

A North Korean man has been detained by South Korean forces after he crossed the heavily fortified land border into the South, Seoul’s military announced on Friday.

The male civilian successfully breached the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) in the midwestern part of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on Thursday, according to the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The MDL is the de facto boundary between the two Koreas, located within the DMZ—one of the most densely mined areas in the world.

South Korean surveillance detected the man between 3 and 4 a.m. local time. Troops then launched a 20-hour tracking operation, navigating dense vegetation and minefields to secure his custody safely.

“The military identified the individual near the MDL, conducted tracking and surveillance, and successfully carried out a standard guiding operation to secure custody,” the JCS said in a statement.

The man reportedly remained still during daylight hours and allowed South Korean troops to approach him under the cover of night. He willingly cooperated with the soldiers after they offered to escort him out of the DMZ.

Authorities say the defector will be handed over to the country’s intelligence agency for further screening. No unusual movements from North Korean forces have been observed following the incident.

This marks the latest in a series of rare land border defections. In August last year, a North Korean soldier crossed the MDL into the South, while another citizen arrived via sea near Gyodong Island.

Though tens of thousands of North Koreans have fled to the South since the Korean War, most do so by first entering China and transiting through a third country. Direct defections across the inter-Korean border remain uncommon, especially after North Korea imposed harsh border controls during the COVID-19 pandemic.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, who assumed office last month, has pledged a more conciliatory stance toward Pyongyang. “Politics and diplomacy must be handled without emotion and approached with reason and logic,” he said Thursday, adding that ending dialogue with the North is “a foolish thing to do.”

The border crossing comes amid rising scrutiny of North Korea’s covert activities abroad. This week, the U.S. Justice Department revealed that Pyongyang has been using remote IT workers—hired unknowingly by American firms—to finance its weapons programs.