Seoul, Oct 19 (IANS) A North Korean soldier has been taken into custody after crossing the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) on Sunday, the South Korean military said.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected and tracked the individual near the MDL earlier in the day, with relevant authorities planning to conduct an investigation into the motive, Yonhap News Agency reported.
It marks the first presumed defection by a North Korean soldier since the Lee Jae Myung government came into power.
On September 26, a North Korean merchant vessel briefly crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the Yellow Sea, the de facto maritime border between the Koreas, on Friday, but retreated after South Korea’s military fired warning shots, officials said.
The 140-metre-long North Korean vessel crossed the NLL near the South Korean border island of Baengnyeong at 5.06 a.m. and remained on the southern side for an hour, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
The vessel, which departed from a port in North Korea, reportedly advanced up to 5 kilometres south of the NLL.
The South Korean military, which had been monitoring the North Korean ship’s advance toward the NLL, issued warning broadcasts, but the vessel crossed the line, triggering a South Korean Navy vessel to fire around 60 warning shots and shells.
The North Korean ship subsequently veered westward and retreated from the South’s maritime control area at around 6 a.m., JSC officials said.
The 2,800-ton ROKS Cheonan frigate was conducting operations in the area at the time of the NLL breach.
A JCS official said a dozen Chinese ships were situated near the NLL at the time, adding it was looking into the possibility that the North Korean vessel crossed the maritime border to avoid the Chinese ships nearby.
The North Korean ship, named the Toksong, reportedly changed the nationality in the ship’s automatic identification system to China after crossing the NLL, in an apparent move to conceal its identity, the official said.
The ship also had a Chinese flag attached, according to the official.
–IANS
int/akl/vd
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BhaskarLive.in and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of BhaskarLive.in We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, BhaskarLive.in takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.