### North Korean Defector Detained After Attempted Border Crossing on Stolen Bus

In a highly unusual incident, South Korean authorities apprehended a North Korean defector who attempted to cross the fortified border back to the North by stealing a bus. The defector, a man in his 30s, was stopped on the Unification Bridge after crashing the vehicle into a barricade when he ignored soldiers' commands to halt.

According to South Korean media, the man revealed that he desired to return to North Korea due to the difficulties he faced living in the South. He had originally defected from North Korea approximately a decade ago.

The incident unfolded early Tuesday at around 1:00 a.m. local time when the man pilfered the bus from a garage in Paju, a northern city close to the border. Surveillance video captured him trying various vehicles before successfully starting the bus. Authorities intercepted him about half an hour later.

Details emerged that the man has been working as a day laborer in multiple cities, including Paju, and had reportedly accumulated several unpaid fines. The South Korean newspaper, The Dong-A Ilbo, reported these financial struggles.

South Korean law sternly prohibits any citizen, including defectors, from crossing into North Korea without official authorization, with penalties reaching up to ten years in prison if convicted. Defectors are automatically granted South Korean citizenship upon arrival.

While South Korea has been receiving over 1,000 defectors annually, the number of those attempting to return to North Korea remains extremely low, with only 31 documented cases between 2012 and 2022, according to the South’s Unification Ministry. Despite the risks, some defectors choose to return due to economic challenges or the desire to reunite with family members.

Those who succeed in returning often face severe consequences, including imprisonment and rigorous ideological re-education. In January 2022, another defector in his 30s returned to the North after struggling to make ends meet in South Korea, highlighting the harsh realities some defectors encounter in their new lives.