North Korean soldier manages rare escape across domestic border

According to media reports, a North Korean soldier escaped across the demarcated inter-Korean border into South Korea. According to a report by the official Yonhap news agency, a man in military uniform reportedly made his way to the east of the Korean Peninsula on Tuesday morning. There he was arrested by South Korean police. More precise details are still unclear.

The escape comes just two weeks after a North Korean defected across the sea border into South Korea. According to media reports, the escape cases may be related to recent psychological warfare operations by the South Korean military. South Korea has set up massive loudspeaker systems along the border to broadcast propaganda messages to the hermetically sealed state.

Especially before the corona pandemic and the border closure by North Korea, large numbers of North Koreans left their impoverished and dictatorial country every year in search of a better life. However, escape attempts across the Korean border are considered extremely dangerous and rare. Most fled across the border to China. Many of them later came to South Korea via detours.

The number of North Korean refugees arriving in South Korea has been increasing again since last year. According to statistics from the Unification Ministry in Seoul, a total of 105 North Koreans reached the neighboring country through various routes to the south in the first half of 2024.