Former gymnast, jumping a 3-meter fence, fled from North Korea to South

The North Korean athlete managed to jump over a three-meter fence to get to South Korea, local media reported. Before that, he somehow managed to get into, perhaps, the most protected territory of the DPRK, writes Air force.

Photo: Shutterstock

It happened back in early November, but it became known about the incident only now. The defector claims to have been a gymnast in the past.

According to South Korean authorities, an investigation into the incident showed that the fugitive could not be immediately detected due to the fact that one of the sensors at the border had become loose. The intruder was detained by the South Korean military only 14 hours later, a kilometer from the border, when the “jumper” was spotted by CCTV cameras.

The sensor system was installed in 2015. She must react to any touch of the fence. The South Korean Border Service said it is currently checking all sensors along the entire length of the border with the DPRK.

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According to the Ryonghap news agency and the Korean Herald newspaper, the man crossed the demilitarized zone between the two countries on November 3. The incident provoked a powerful wave of criticism against the authorities inside South Korea, as it showed the vulnerability of the border protection system in the face of a potential threat from the DPRK.

Investigative experiment

Now the South Korean authorities are checking the sincerity of the motives for his escape. In particular, they asked him to repeat the jump over the high fence twice to make sure that his words were true, writes The Korean Herald.

If he actually escaped in this way, it is surprising that he managed to remain unnoticed by the North Korean military and somehow did not get blown up by one of the many mines in the demilitarized zone.

The authorities, according to the media, believe that such an escape, in principle, is possible, given the light weight of the man and his gymnastics in the past. Neither the name nor the age of the defector is named. It is only known that he is not yet 30 years old.

The military has already stated that a fence was slightly bent at the site of the alleged border crossing, but they did not find any traces of cuts or other methods of influence, writes The Korean Herald.

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On average, about a thousand people flee North Korea every year. Most often they head to China - along a dangerous path through mountains and rivers.

Many of them then go to South Korea, where special programs for the adaptation of refugees from North Korea work.

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