South Korea rescues North Korea defector who swam across ocean border
Defections across the land border that divides the peninsula are relatively rare.
South Korea and the US will conduct major joint military drills starting on 18 August.
A North Korean defector who swam across a sea border with South Korea while reportedly tied to floating plastic has been rescued and taken into custody, Seoul authorities said on Thursday.
The North Korean managed to swim across the de facto maritime border off the western coast of the Korean peninsula on the night of 30 July, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
The border is known as the Northern Limit Line and has occasionally served as a route for North Korean defectors swimming to South Korea's Ganghwa Island.
'The military identified the individual near the north of the mid-river boundary,' a military official told reporters.
The individual, who local media reported was tied to Styrofoam when he was found, waved for help and said he wanted to defect to South Korea when asked by a South Korean naval officer, the official said.
The operation took about 10 hours, according to Seoul, and the individual was rescued at around 04:00 on 31 July (19:00 GMT 30 July).
The North Korean is now in custody and has expressed their wish to defect, the defence ministry said.
Kyodo News via Getty Images
Ganghwa Island, located northwest of Seoul, is one of the closest South Korean territories to North Korea, with some parts of the surrounding sea lying just 10km from the maritime border between the two countries.
Tens of thousands of North Koreans have fled to the South since the peninsula was divided by war in the 1950s, with most going overland to neighbouring China first, then entering a third country such as Thailand before finally making it to the South.
Defections across the land border that divides the peninsula are relatively rare, as the area is densely forested, heavily mined and monitored by soldiers on both sides.
But a North Korean man defected in July to the South by crossing the Military Demarcation Line.
The number of successful escapes dropped significantly from 2020 after the North sealed its borders - purportedly with shoot-on-sight orders along the frontier with China - to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
North Koreans are typically handed over to Seoul's intelligence agency for screening when they arrive in the South.
Handout/South Korean Defence Ministry/AFP
Reuters reported that South Korea and the US will conduct major joint military drills starting on 18 August, officials said, although they will delay parts of the annual exercises that have been a source of tension with North Korea to later in the year.
The 11-day annual exercises, called Ulchi Freedom Shield, will be on a similar scale to 2024 but adjusted by rescheduling 20 out of 40 field training events to September, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Lee Sung-jun said.
The allies agreed to reschedule some parts of the drill to next month over factors 'including ensuring training conditions during extreme heat and maintaining a balanced combined defence posture year-round', Lee said at a briefing.
This year's drill will test an upgraded response to heightened North Korean nuclear threats as well as cutting-edge technologies used in modern wars, Lee said, citing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
The exercise will include a scenario of a North Korean missile launch, but will not cover a potential nuclear test by Pyongyang, he said.
The decision to spread out the scheduling included reasons such as extreme weather, Lee said, denying there were any political factors behind the move.
The drills are due to be staged as the new South Korean government of President Lee Jae Myung seeks to improve strained ties with Pyongyang and revive stalled dialogue with its neighbour.
A senior official from South Korea's Unification Ministry, which manages relations between the Koreas, said on Thursday that the delay in some training exercises was aimed at easing tensions with North Korea, the Yonhap News Agency reported.
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