South Korean authorities are investigating after four North Korean residents crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the East Sea on a small wooden boat. On the morning of the 24th, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Coast Guard were dispatched after receiving a report that a North Korean small wooden boat was discovered by a Korean fishing boat operating in the waters east of Sokcho, Gangwon-do. They announced that they had secured four new North Korean soldiers. Military authorities reported that they had discovered unusual signs in the waters near the NLL in the East Sea since early morning on this day and were taking operational measures to prepare for various situations. The Joint Chiefs of Staff added that it was captured and tracked at sea using coastal surveillance equipment such as thermal imaging equipment (TOD) and radar, and that it was secured in waters east of Sokcho in cooperation with the Coast Guard. A government joint investigation team consisting of the military, police, intelligence authorities, and the Ministry of Unification is confirming their movement routes and intentions to defect. It has been about four years since 2019 that North Korean residents came by boat from the East Sea. At the time, the Ministry of Unification and the National Assembly Intelligence Committee announced that two North Korean fishermen in their 20s who had been fishing for squid between North Korean and Russian waters killed 16 of their fellow sailors and then headed south.
However, at the time, the South Korean government judged that they were not normal defectors and that they were fleeing after committing a crime, so they were deported to North Korea through Panmunjom. The last confirmed case of defection was in May, when nine members of a North Korean family, including children, defected. The family, who were confirmed to have arrived on an old wooden boat of 10 meters in length and 5 tons in size, reportedly expressed their intention to defect as soon as they saw the Korean military near Yeonpyeong Island in the West Sea. It was a defection that had been carefully planned and led by my younger brother, who had worked as a captain and knew the sea conditions well. It is known that they defected from North Korea to avoid the extreme hardships of life and the brainwashing education environment that would be imposed on their children. Why ‘East Sea’? It appears that maritime defections over the past 10 years have been concentrated in the ‘East Sea’. According to data released by the Ministry of Unification and the office of People Power Party lawmaker Tae Young-ho, more than 80% of North Korean residents defected through the East Sea. Experts explain that it is easier to defect to the East Sea than to the West Sea. Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the Graduate School of North Korean National University, said, “Defecting through the West Sea may seem less risky in that the waves are not as big, but it has the disadvantage of being easy to fall into China’s surveillance network.” Additionally, the west coast is said to be under stricter surveillance because it is closer to Pyongyang. According to the Ministry of Unification, the number of North Korean defectors entering Korea through the third quarter of this year was 139. This is a more than three-fold increase compared to 42 people in the same period last year.
An official from the Ministry of Unification said, “The number of arrivals in 2020 and 2021 was unusually low due to a combination of factors such as the border blockade between North Korea and China (due to COVID-19) and restrictions on movement within China, but with the lifting of COVID-19, movement within China became freer and borders were closed. “We believe that the number of North Korean defectors entering the country has increased this year as the blockade has been partially eased,” he explained. However, he added, “Before 2019, more than 1,000 people entered the country annually, and it is impossible to predict whether that number will recover at all.” Meanwhile, regarding the fact that the North Korean wooden boat came down without any restraint, Kim Dong-yup, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, said, “Due to the nature of small wooden boats, they do not operate at high speeds, so considering the current situation, there is a reasonable suspicion that the wooden boat was not properly identified. “I have no choice but to do it,” he explained. On this day, a Joint Chiefs of Staff official explained that a suspicious vessel detected by radar and thermal imaging equipment had no signal from a fishing boat, so patrol planes and high-speed boats were sent in pursuit, but they were unable to find the small North Korean wooden boat, and in the meantime, a private fishing boat reported the North Korean boat.
