A North Korean construction worker who spent 13 years in South Korea caused an accident while trying to return to the North on a stolen bus.
A North Korean refugee in South Korea was arrested after causing an accident aboard a stolen bus near the inter-Korean border while trying to return to North Korea, police said Wednesday, cited by the Parisian.
Homesickness
This man, a worker in his thirties, fled to the South in 2011. But he ended up feeling homesick. “His living conditions are difficult and he misses his family”said an investigator. He therefore made the decision to return to North Korea by stealing a bus to make this trip.
Arriving on a bridge south of the highly secure demilitarized zone (DMZ) between the two countries, he ignored soldiers’ orders and crashed into a barricade, according to police in Gyeonggi Bukbu province. The man was arrested and faces charges of theft and breaching national security laws.
Crossings from the South to the North are very rare, the majority of defectors taking the opposite route, often passing through China and the Yalu (or Amnok) River, the natural border between North Korea and China.
Since the end of the Korean War (1950-1953), more than 34,000 North Koreans have fled to the South. But some refugees tried to return to the North. Between 2012 and 2021, 31 refugees returned to North Korea, according to the South Korean Ministry of Unification. In January 2022, a concierge based in the South crossed the DMZ via its eastern part to return to the North.
Relations still very tense
Relations between the two Koreas are currently very tense. Pyongyang continues its weapons tests and sends garbage-filled balloons to the South, while Seoul has suspended a military agreement and resumed broadcasting propaganda in retaliation.
