The third’knock defection’ unit… Even if you come down to the Civil Control Line checkpoint, it’s dark

View larger-As North Korean man A was arrested on the 16th at the Civilian Control Line (Civil Control Line) in Goseong-gun, Gangwon-do, there is growing criticism that the military’s borders on North Korea have been broken again. It is reported that the military believes that it is highly likely that Mr. A traveled south by sea. In this area under the jurisdiction of the 22nd Army Division, a North Korean man passed away in November last year, just three months ago, and in 2012, the so-called’knock defection’ occurred. There is also spreading criticism that the border system toward North Korea is not improving even though border holes are repeatedly created in the same unit on the Eastern Front.

On the 16th, the joint chief of staff and other reports are summarized. Mr. A disappeared after being caught on the closed circuit (CC) TV at the civil control line checkpoint in Goseong-gun around 4:20 am on the day. At that time, it is known that Mr. A was moving south from a nearby beach, a military area. After consultation with the division, the Joint Chiefs of Staff issued a Jindo dog’Hana’, and launched a search by putting in the operational troops of the ‘5 minute waiting group’. Jindogae, an intrusion warning order, remains’three’ during peacetime, and is upgraded to’one’ when it is judged that there is a clear indication of North Korea’s infiltration or the potential for the air force.

It was around 7:20 am that Mr. A was arrested by military forces in the area around the Civilian Control Line checkpoint. Even though the military captured Mr. A through surveillance assets and dispatched a quick response force, he wandered the front area for about 3 hours without any restraint. A military official said, “To date, all CCTVs at the civil control line checkpoint have been captured.” A, who is estimated to be in her 20s, wore North Korean words in civilian attire, and it is reported that she expressed her intention to defect to military authorities after recruits were secured.

Afterwards, Mr. A was reported to have been gibberish in the process of the joint newspaper of the relevant authorities, which at one time raised the possibility of mental disorder, but was reportedly stating that he came from a specific region in North Korea. Accordingly, the Joint Warfare Posture Inspection Office jointly conducted an on-site investigation with the Ground Operations Command to see if there were any problems with the North Korean alert posture. The 22nd Division is a unit that guards against the rugged mountainous terrain and long stretches of coastline, and is called the commander’s’tomb’ because of constant accidents. In 2012, after a’knock defection’, when a North Korean soldier knocked on the dormitory window of the GOP, the military introduced the so-called’scientific border system’ with a detection sensor attached to a barbed wire, but in November last year, a North Korean man crossed the barbed wire. Couldn’t catch it. As the Joint Chiefs of Staff puts weight on the possibility that Mr. A traveled to the south via sea rather than land, if it turns out to be true, it seems difficult to avoid criticism that the Korean military’s coastal boundary system has been incapacitated following the Eastern Front. The military is searching for related equipment, considering the possibility that A may have had auxiliary equipment in mind because there is a risk of dying from hypothermia if Mr. A jumped into the cold sea in winter weather. The military is operating surveillance assets such as surveillance cameras and thermal imaging equipment (TOD) at coastal guard posts. In particular, 5 days after the incident of “Samcheok Port Knock Return”, which was anchored by a North Korean fishing boat at the pier of Samcheok Port under the jurisdiction of the 23rd Division in June 2019, then Minister of Defense Chung Gyeong-du issued an apology and announced that it would strengthen the alert posture.

If Mr. A went south by land, the frontline GOP fence would have been drilled again after three months. It is known that the distance from the GOP railroad fence to the civilian control line checkpoint is about 5 km.

In November of last year, the military completed repairs for some equipment of a barbed wire detection sensor in the 22nd Division, where the problem was revealed at the time of a North Korean man’s “whole fence defection”. In addition, the 22nd Division is planning to reinforce the equipment of the 22nd Division’s scientific and environmental boundary system by spending 5 billion won this year.

Reporter Shin Shin-jin [email protected]