Media: Two North Korean soldiers enter South Korea in pursuit of defector

Two armed North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the heavily fortified inter-Korean border last week, reportedly in pursuit of a fellow soldier who had defected to South Korea earlier the same day, military sources said on October 24.

According to the sources, the incursion occurred on October 19, when the soldiers crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) and advanced about 200 metres into South Korean territory near a guard post in the central section of the border, Caliber.Az reports via Yonhap.

South Korean troops responded immediately by issuing warning broadcasts and firing warning shots, prompting the North Korean soldiers to retreat to their side of the border, the sources said.

The brief incursion followed an earlier defection by a North Korean soldier, who crossed into the South through the same section of the border that day.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) later confirmed that no unusual movements were detected from the North Korean military following the incident.

A JCS official stated that the military had initially decided not to disclose the border intrusion, as it was unclear whether the soldiers were indeed pursuing the defector, noting a time gap of more than five hours between the two events.

However, the revelation has raised questions among observers, some of whom speculate that the decision to withhold the information was intended to avoid escalating tensions with Pyongyang amid heightened inter-Korean sensitivities.

By Vugar Khalilov