S Korea leader scolds failed border watch

SEOUL (AFP) - South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak on Thursday scolded his military for negligence after a North Korean soldier defector travelled unchecked across one of the world’s most fortified borders. The 22-year-old soldier defected on October 2, making his way through rows of electrified fencing dividing the two Koreas under cover of darkness. Initially, military officials said he had been detected by surveillance cameras and guided to safety. But inspectors later found the man turned himself in at the barracks of a frontline unit after his knock at the entrance of another unit went unanswered.

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