SEOUL, October 27 (AJP) - South Korea's military is investigating security lapses after a woman in her 30s entered a restricted border area and damaged surveillance sensors along a military fence near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Tuesday.
The Ground Operations Command began investigating the unit involved on Monday, reviewing its overall security operations and response to the incident, a JCS official said
On Oct. 24, the woman entered a restricted area north of the Civilian Control Line (CCL) in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province. Military personnel detected her presence and launched a search, but she managed to evade capture.
The following morning, she reached a General Outpost (GOP) fence and used cutting tools to damage several sections of its fiber-optic sensor network before fleeing again.
Military personnel eventually apprehended her on the afternoon of Oct. 25. Authorities said there were no indications of espionage or North Korean involvement, while an investigation into her motives and movements remains underway.
The incident has raised questions about the military's surveillance and response capabilities after troops failed to apprehend the woman despite detecting her presence a day before she damaged the front-line security facilities.
During a parliamentary audit Monday, Rep. Sung Il-jong of the opposition People Power Party questioned how the woman had managed to approach the GOP fence after entering the restricted area.
JCS Chairman Jin Young-seung acknowledged that the military had detected the woman on Saturday afternoon but said she was not spotted again on surveillance cameras during the subsequent search operation.
At Tuesday's briefing, however, the JCS drew a distinction between the military's front-line defense responsibilities and its management of civilian access restrictions.
"The primary mission of GOP units is to guard against enemy threats from the front," the official said.
The official explained that the CCL is intended to facilitate military operations, maintain security and protect civilians from hazards such as unidentified land mines, rather than serve as a defensive line against enemy infiltration.
Military checkpoints along the CCL primarily control road access and operate on the assumption of civilian cooperation, the official added.
"Describing the incident as a breach of the Civilian Control Line confuses these two different concepts," the official said, referring to media reports of the incident.
The official added that CCL checkpoints mainly control road access and rely on civilian cooperation, unlike GOP defenses designed to guard against enemy threats. The military therefore cautioned against describing the incident as a breach of the CCL.
Meanwhile, authorities are still investigating how the woman entered the restricted area and why she damaged the fence sensors, while the Ground Operations Command reviews the military unit's surveillance and response procedures.
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