This marks the second defection in less than a year across the DMZ, a dangerous trek about two and half miles wide. The Zone is 160 miles long and is fortified with tens of thousands of troops on both sides, not to mention barbed wire, landmines, electric fencing and rows of surveillance cameras.
According to Seoul’s Defense Ministry, the soldier is being held for questioning after crossing the military demarcation line in the DMZ’s middle sector. No gunfire was exchanged.
Interrogation is typically one of the first things to happen when someone defects to the South, to determine whether the defector is a spy. If admitted to the country, defectors can be eligible for government assistance and transition help from non-governmental and nonprofit organizations.
South Korea is reporting a recent uptick in the number of defections from the North, though military defections don’t occur very often.
Since 2010, only five to 10 North Koreans have defected using the DMZ route, according to the Yonhap News Agency, with September 2016 being the last time a North Korean soldier used the route to defect.
The DMZ has been in place since July 1953 after the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement, which ended the hostilities of the Korean War. The agreement was not a peace treaty and, technically, war could resume between the US and North Korea. South Korea agreed to observe the agreement but was not a signatory.
Both Washington and Pyongyang accuse one another of violating the armistice, in particular as North Korea has pledged to continue its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons development and testing in violation of UN sanctions, and the US has refused to rule out military intervention against the country.
The defection comes as only days a suspected North Korean camera-mounted drone was captured by the South Korean military. Seoul’s Defense Ministry determined the unmanned craft was sent to conduct surveillance on the US’ controversial Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD) installed in South Korea.
South Korea presently hosts about 28,5000 US service members.
