On the night of December 31 to January 1, a man smuggled into the territory of North Korea, one of the most closed countries in the world.
It would be the second time that the man has crossed the "demilitarized zone" (DMZ) that separates the Hermit Kingdom from South Korea, according to authorities in Seoul.
He would have crossed it for the first time in the opposite direction in November 2020, taking a similar route.
The identity of the individual, aged in his thirties, has not yet been disclosed. An official from the South Korean Defense Ministry, however, told AFP
"that it is [would] be the same man who defected to the south by scaling the barbed wire fence in November 2020"
. The track of espionage seems to be ruled out, because no evidence would point in this direction, specifies another military source. South Korean officials said the military had been in regular contact with him until December 29.
The man crossed the ultra-fortified border, littered with mines and barbed wire, being detected by South Korean cameras at around 6:40 p.m.
However, the army was not informed until 3 hours later, around 9:30 p.m.
Seoul then alerted the North Korean authorities, who reported having received the information, without giving further details.
Although a search operation was carried out by South Korea, it produced no results.
The reasons for this new crossing remain unknown, and it is not known whether the man is still alive.
No unusual activity on the part of the North Korean military was spotted.
With the pandemic, North Korea more isolated than ever
If more than 30,000 people fled from the North to the South following the Korean War (1950-1953), the over-militarization of the border has allowed very few crossings for several decades.
A fragile dialogue between the two Koreas testified to a certain openness of North Korea on the eve of the epidemic, but these efforts were brushed aside with the health crisis.
Already one of the most isolated countries in the world before the pandemic, North Korea has withdrawn even more into itself.
Kim Jong-un does not recognize any case of Covid on his soil, and has taken drastic measures to avoid contamination.
It has increased surveillance of its population, tightened the closure of its borders, to the point of moving away from China, its main ally and economic partner.
The new restrictions are such that the Russian embassy in Pyongyang announced last April the departure of many members of its diplomatic delegation.
If 40% of the population already suffered from food insecurity before the epidemic, this withdrawal into oneself only made it worse.
The shortage of basic necessities has forced Kim Jong-un to make this topic one of his main challenges for 2022.
