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| ▲ A wooden boat is towed by a South Korean military vessel toward a port in Yangyang, Gangwon Province, northeastern South Korea, in this file photo taken Oct. 24, 2023, after a group of four unidentified individuals from North Korea crossed the eastern maritime inter-Korean border on the boat and were spotted in waters off the nearby city of Sokcho. (Yonhap) |
NK boat-military award
Military to award units, soldiers over N.K. boat detection despite lingering criticism
By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, Nov. 1 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean military said Wednesday it will grant awards to units and soldiers behind an operation to detect and track a North Korean boat near the eastern maritime border last week, despite lingering criticism over the military's security lapses.
A 7.5-meter-long wooden boat carrying four North Koreans crossed the de facto maritime border in the East Sea on Oct. 24 in an apparent attempt to defect to South Korea.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) earlier said coastal units first identified the small boat with thermal observation devices and radars in the predawn hours, but the incident raised questions over potential lapses in maritime surveillance as the military towed away the boat after a local fisherman reported spotting it in the morning.
The JCS said it has selected four units in charge of front-line coastal areas and 15 service members who initially identified and tracked the small boat to praise the fulfillment of their missions under a "difficult operation environment."
"We have selected units and service members who contributed to the operation of identifying, tracking and monitoring the small North Korean wooden boat," the JCS said in a release.
It marked the first time since November 2019 that a group of North Koreans has made an attempt to defect to South Korea on a vessel in the East Sea.
In May, the South Korean military intercepted a North Korean fishing boat carrying a group of defectors that crossed the western NLL in the Yellow Sea.
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