Captured 7 Times on Military Surveillance Equipment at the Time of Defection to North Korea

It has been confirmed that Kim Mo (24), a defector who recently defected to North Korea, was captured seven times by military surveillance equipment.

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] It has been confirmed that the North Korean defector Kim Mo (24), who recently defected to North Korea, was captured seven times by military surveillance equipment. However, the frontline sentries mistook him for floating debris on the river and failed to recognize Kim's defection to North Korea. The military held the Marine Corps 2nd Division commander accountable for the security posture and dismissed him from his post, while issuing a severe warning to the Marine Corps Commander and the Army Capital Corps Commander, who bear command responsibility.

On the 31st, Kim Jun-rak, spokesperson for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated the results of the wartime readiness inspection team investigation: "Kim was captured seven times on medium- and short-range surveillance cameras while defecting to North Korea, but the sentries mistook him for floating debris such as logs on the river and failed to detect him." He added, "According to the investigation results, a severe warning will be issued to the Marine Corps Commander and the Army Capital Corps Commander who bear command responsibility," and "the Marine Corps 2nd Division commander will be dismissed from his post, and related personnel will be referred to the disciplinary committee."

The police have also formed a special investigation team to conduct an internal probe related to this incident. A police official said, "Apart from the Joint Investigation Team formed by the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency, we are reviewing the police response process," and "appropriate measures will be taken based on the investigation results." Kim had been under police protection for less than five years since defecting from North Korea. However, the Gimpo Police Station in Gyeonggi Province, which was protecting Kim, was unaware of his defection to North Korea despite investigating him on charges of sexual assault.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff revealed that Kim took a taxi to Yeonmijeong, a coastal area in Wolgot-ri, northeast of Ganghwa-gun, at around 2:18 a.m. on the 18th. This was also captured by surveillance cameras installed at the Yeonmijeong outpost. However, the sentries saw the taxi's lights but did not consider it suspicious behavior. Kim moved to the drainage channel in Yeonmi-dong at around 2:34 a.m., 18 minutes later, and attempted to defect to North Korea through the drainage channel near Yeonmijeong at around 2:46 a.m., 12 minutes after that. The Joint Chiefs explained that the weather was cloudy with dim moonlight, visibility was about 3 km, making visual surveillance impossible, but surveillance equipment was sufficient.

It is presumed that Kim cut the barbed wire installed at the drainage channel to defect to North Korea. The Joint Chiefs added that ten pieces of barbed wire were found near the drainage channel. Although screens allowing water to pass are basically installed in the drainage channel under the barbed wire fence, Kim may have exploited this area as a relatively blind spot compared to the ground fence. A bag presumed to belong to Kim was also found near the drainage channel. The Joint Chiefs stated that the bag contained Kim's bankbook, a Bible, and first aid supplies.

It was also confirmed that some footage was deleted from the military surveillance equipment at the time. The Joint Chiefs said, "While reviewing the thermal imaging device (TOD) recorded footage, we confirmed that 64 files were deleted," and "it was confirmed that the deletion was not intentional but occurred during the reorganization of the storage function, and recovery was not possible."

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