The head of the Joint Chiefs of Operations Park Jung-hwan is reporting the situation of the returnees of the 22nd Division at the general meeting of the National Assembly Defense Committee on the afternoon of the 17th. yunhap news-The military authorities admitted to the’warning failure’, saying, “We are evaluating that a clear mistake was identified in the warfare operation,” regarding the defection of a North Korean man in Goseong-gun, Gangwon-do, on the 16th.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff Operation Headquarters Park Jung-hwan (Lt. General of the Army) said this while explaining the outline of the case to lawmakers while attending the general meeting of the National Assembly’s Defense Committee on the afternoon of the 17th.
According to his explanation, the military found footprints on the shore about three kilometers from the Military Demarcation Line (MDL). Director Park said, “It is presumed to have landed through this point,” and said that a wet suit and flippers were found at a slightly further south point.
The wetsuit in question was not conveyed as a military suit, but rather as a form commonly worn by mugguri (people who enter the sea and collect seafood). He explained that there is the Unification Observation Deck and the drainage passage a little farther from here, and the barrier of the drainage passage is damaged and it is believed that it came through.
A North Korean man was then caught on a CCTV at a civilian control line checkpoint around 4:20 am while traveling southward for about 5km along National Route 7. Soon afterward, military forces were dispatched, and at around 6:35 am, a first-class alert was issued.
Some time later, around 7:20 pm, the 22nd Division’s search forces found the man in a field northeast of the checkpoint to secure a recruit, and the situation ended.
Graphic = Reporter Seongki Kim-Subsequently, as a result of confirming the state of the coastal boundary operation and the management of the boundary facilities, it was revealed that the man was caught by surveillance equipment several times after landing on the shore, but the unit did not take appropriate measures.
Headquarters Park said, “We found it in the north of the Civil Control Line and secured a new soldier to terminate the operation in 3 hours, but we are evaluating that a clear mistake was identified in coastal surveillance and surveillance operations, such as guard operation personnel and guard facility management.” We plan to follow up with the alert operation commander’s meeting,” he added.
Since the military authorities officially admitted that’there was an error in the operation’, it seems inevitable that extensive disciplinary measures, etc., will be inevitable after the investigation by the Warfare Inspection Office for the unit is completed.
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