Chairman Park of the Joint Chiefs apologizes for the defection incident... Barbed wire aging

[Asia Economy Reporter Yang Nak-gyu] General Park Han-ki, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, apologized for the case of defector Kim (24) who crossed over to North Korea through a drainage channel.

On the 28th, General Park appeared at the National Assembly National Defense Committee plenary session and stated, "We are taking the Ganghwa Island defection situation very seriously and deeply feel responsible. Since the arrival of the (North Korean) wooden boat at Samcheok Port on June 15 last year, we have made every effort to improve the inadequate surveillance conditions," he said.

He continued, "During this time, there was a failure in the garrison surveillance operation earlier this year, and consecutive coastal surveillance failures occurred due to illegal immigration in Taean, leading us to devise supplementary measures. It was during this process that the Ganghwa Island defection incident occurred."

It is also presumed that defector Kim, who crossed over to North Korea, pushed aside the steel obstacle in the drainage channel with his hands and escaped.

General Park explained, "There is a diamond-shaped obstacle made of rebar to block the path from the drainage channel to the river, and if one overcomes that, there is a coil-shaped barbed wire wrapped around it. Obstacles were installed to block passage initially." He added that although these double obstacles were installed, they were somewhat old, and due to Kim’s small physique, he was able to get through the obstacles.

General Park stated, "(Kim) is 163 cm tall and weighs 54 kg, so he is small," and "It has been confirmed that there was room for him to overcome the obstacles and get through." When asked if he crossed over because he was thin, General Park answered "Yes," but when asked if there was any problem with the obstacles themselves, he replied, "The obstacles were somewhat old, and it was identified that parts of the coil-shaped barbed wire were significantly deteriorated." He added, "We confirmed that there was room to push aside the obstacles and get through."

However, he added, "We conduct detailed inspections of the obstacles in the morning and evening, and even on that day, after inspecting the site, there was almost no noticeable damage to the obstacles to the extent that nothing unusual was felt."

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