Defector Detected Seven Times While Crossing DMZ with no Response; Marine Corps General Relieved of Duty

Somebody had to be held responsible for this dereliction of duty and it ended up being a ROK Marine Corps 2-Star General:

The border crossing near the western island of Ganghwa by the 24-year-old man, surnamed Kim, became known after North Korea reported Sunday that a “runaway” returned home in the border city of Kaesong with coronavirus symptoms and that the entire city was blocked off to prevent the spread of the virus.

South Korean officials said Kim had been under investigation over allegations he raped a female defector.

According to the JCS’ probe results, Kim was caught on the military’s surveillance equipment seven times — five on its monitoring cameras, twice on thermal observation devices (TODs) — including his arrival in the North, but troops failed to identify him as a person trying to cross the border.

The defector passed through a drainage tunnel running underneath barbed wire fences to evade South Korean border guards before reaching the shore and swimming a few kilometers to North Korea. 

The fences set up inside the drainage tunnel were in poor condition, allowing the defector to pass through them easily, they said. It took just around 10 minutes for Kim to pass through the channel and reach the river separating the two Koreas.

The JCS will seek disciplinary measures against those accountable, including the dismissal of Maj. Gen. Baek Gyeong-sun as commander of the Marine Corps’ 2nd Division in charge of border security at the area, officials said. 

Yonhap

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