North Korean Defects Across Maritime Border By Clinging to Plastic Foam
This guy must have been pretty desperate to attempt a high risk defection like this. Hopefully he doesn’t have any family left in North Korea that will be punished for his defection:
A North Korean man defected to South Korea after he swam down the coast and evaded armed border guards with orders to shoot anyone fleeing Kim Jong Un’s regime.
The unidentified man was detected late on the evening of July 30, according to South Korean officials, who made the defection public on Thursday. He used tied-on plastic foam for buoyancy and swam down the Korean Peninsula’s west coast.
After a journey of around 10 hours, the man, who reportedly waved his hands and declared his intention to defect, was retrieved by South Korea’s military about 1.6 miles south of North Korean soil.
Defections to the South have become extremely rare in recent years after Kim ordered extra fortifications and boosted security along the border. That has left only dangerous routes and the risk of a death sentence if caught.
You can read more at the link.
