[Breaking] Bag Owned by Defector Kim Found

[Asia Economy Reporter Yang Nak-gyu] On the 19th, it was reported that Kim Mo (24), a defector from North Korea, crossed into North Korea through a drainage channel installed under the barbed wire fence around Ganghwa Island.

On the 27th, Kim Jun-rak, spokesperson for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated at a regular briefing, "It appears that Kim crossed into North Korea not from Gyodong Island but around Ganghwa Island, and a bag presumed to be Kim's was found and is currently under detailed investigation."

The military authorities estimated that the defector was Kim, considering that North Korea described him on the 26th via the Korean Central News Agency as a "defector who illegally crossed the Military Demarcation Line after three years." Since there are very few defectors from Kaesong and the defection timing was relatively specific, about three years ago, the defector community narrowed down the suspect to a specific individual.

A military official said, "We are investigating the timing and method of the crossing, taking weather conditions into account, and will check whether there is any thermal imaging device (TOD) footage captured by the Marine Corps 2nd Division and the Army Capital Corps."

Kim is a male born in 1996 and is known to have attended middle school in Kaesong. The defection occurred in 2017. At that time, he swam across and came to the South through Ganghwa Island, and it is believed that this time as well, he likely crossed into North Korea by sea rather than by land. It is reported that Kim had previously scouted these areas before crossing. Last month, Kim was investigated by the police as a suspect for allegedly sexually assaulting a female defector he knew at his home in Gimpo in mid-month, and it is reported that he denied the rape charges at that time.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.