January 04, 2022
Another Security Breach at the Inter-Korean Border Reinforces Concerns Over South Korea’s Ability to Protect Itself
On the Korean Peninsula, 2022 began with a reported North Korean defector-turned-South Korean citizen crossing the border into the North, stoking existing concerns over the security of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas.
Current media reports claim that a North Korean defector living in South Korea crossed the DMZ into North Korea on January 1, 2022. The individual reportedly defected to South Korea two years ago by crossing the DMZ and has seemingly taken the same route back to North Korea.
That an individual can enter and exit the “most heavily fortified border in the world” without capture raises serious concerns regarding South Korea’s ability to adequately monitor its border with North Korea.
The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff attributed the 2020 border security failure to a “loose screw” that prevented the border sensors from working properly. In the same year, another North Korean defector returned to the North by swimming through a border drain and South Korean officials blamed the oversight on a lack of proper training of border patrol personnel. Inadequate technology and training along the South Korean side of the DMZ are two massive vulnerabilities that North Korean operatives can exploit for a range of covert operations including dispatching spies, kidnapping South Korean citizens, and in the most extreme scenario, invading South Korea.
Defection through the DMZ is a highly dangerous and uncommon path to South Korea for North Korean refugees due to the heavy presence of landmines and soldiers from both sides of the border. Instead, North Korean defectors typically traverse 3,000 miles through China – which presents its own dangers – to a friendly South Korean embassy in Southeast Asia prior to resettling in the South.
Read the full article from The Diplomat.
More from CNAS
-
Economic Security in Asia Part 1: China's growing pains with Dan Rosen
Podcast
Dan Rosen, leading expert on China's economy and head of the Rhodium Group's China practice, joins Emily and Geoff to talk about the recently concluded third plenum meetings i...
By Emily Kilcrease & Geoffrey Gertz
-
What a Bunch of Malarkey!
Podcast
Emily and Geoff discuss the U.S. presidential election and what that might mean for economic security policy. They get into trade policy, what both candidates would do to comp...
By Emily Kilcrease & Geoffrey Gertz
-
How U.S.-China Competition Upended the International Economic Order and What the United States Can Do to Fix It
Podcast
On June 26, CNAS hosted an event to discuss a new report, Disorderly Conduct: How U.S.-China Competition Upended the International Economic Order and What the United States Ca...
By Emily Kilcrease, Geoffrey Gertz, Adam Tong & Peter Harrell
-
Sanctions by the Numbers: 2023 Year in Review
Reports
Executive Summary In 2023, the Biden administration continued to prioritize sanctions as a key tool to support U.S. national security and foreign policy objectives. The United...
By Rowan Scarpino & Jocelyn Trainer
