A SHARP rise in the number of defections from North Korea by sea since the Cheonan sinking in March has South Korean authorities on spy alert.
South Korean military authorities say there were five seaborne defections from the North last month alone. Previously, incidents of defectors crossing to the south by sea have been rare.
The spate of defections has prompted South Korean authorities to launch an investigation amid fears the rafts could be a new method for the North to implant spies.
“An intensive government investigation into recent North Korean defections will soon be able to determine whether they are disguised spies or not,” a government official told South Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo newspaper. The paper quoted military sources as saying the latest arrivals were two North Koreans spotted floating on an unpowered wooden barge by the South Korean navy on June 26.
“They said their motive was to defect from the military,” one source said, “and (they) were led to the appropriate government organisations.”
The South Korean government usually detains defectors while it determines they are not spies acting for North Korea.
Most defectors cross the Yalu River into China and make their way to South Korea from there, sometimes via third countries.
But with China boosting security along its border with North Korea after North Korean troops shot dead three Chinese suspected of crossing the border to trade, this route might be more difficult for now.
A multinational inspection team pinned the blame on Pyongyang for the sinking of the Cheonan, which claimed the lives of 46 sailors on March 26.
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