North Koreans Cross South Korean Borders To Defect

ILLUSTRATION/Maps

JAKARTA - A North Korean across a maritime border in the Yellow Sea and defected to South Korea, Yonhap news agency reported.

Citing a South Korean military report, the resident crossed the northern border line in the Yellow Sea, a contested sea border off the west coast.

South Korea's Ministry of Defense declined to comment when asked about the report.

The number of North Korean defectors arriving in South Korea reached its lowest point during the pandemic when Pyongyang tightly closed its borders.

Meanwhile, due to tensions in relations between North Korea and South Korea, North Korea claims to send 250 new tactical ballistic missile launchers to its border with South Korea, in the latest aggressive statement Leader Kim Jong-un has made against its neighbors.

Photos published by North Korean state newspaper Rodong Sinmun show what looks like vehicle-based missile launchers, with dozens of large green military trucks neatly lined up in front of Kim.

He said this step was the first step of a missile troop development plan for North Korea's military border unit.

"Dialogue or confrontation can be our choice, but what we have to prepare more is confrontation," said Leader Kim, adding it was "the main point of our policy towards the US that we have maintained so far," he stressed.