[앵커]
Hello everyone.
It was filmed in the area around the Yalu River, where the border between North Korea and China meets.
The Chinese police are in the midst of a search, because yesterday (18th) early morning North Koreans were caught while defecting.
Some were arrested and some fled, but those arrested also tested positive for COVID-19.
First news, Correspondent Oh Se-kyun from Shenyang, China.
[리포트]
It is a bank of the Yalu River in Dandong that faces North Korea’s Sinuiju.
Chinese Border Guard soldiers and public security personnel dispatched to the patrol boat hurriedly lowered the patrol boat to the ferry with a large tow truck.
Nearby, a shabby wooden ship presumed to be a North Korean ship can be seen.
This is the ‘Rangtou’ area, upstream of the Shin Yalu River Bridge, and is only about 4 to 500 meters away from the Sinuiju River in North Korea.
According to a notice from the Dandong Immigration Bureau obtained by KBS, it was confirmed that five North Koreans were trying to smuggle into this place early in the morning yesterday, and three people were arrested by police on patrol.
The other two people fled, and the military and police are chasing after them.
[단둥 현지 주민 : “5명이 넘어왔는데 3명은 붙잡혔고, 나머지 2명은 놓쳤어요. 2명은 도망갔어요.”]
Two of the three arrested tested positive for COVID-19.
Dandong, where there have been no cases of corona infection since the 16th, became a reality when the ‘reverse inflow’ became a reality.
Dandong city public security and border guards mobilized to arrest the fugitives and set up more than 100 new guard posts to arrest them.
The city of Dandong even organized militia in rural areas outside.
[단둥 현지 주민 : “현재 각 마을 조직이 민병을 모으기 시작했어요. 북한 사람이 넘어오지 못하도록 국경선을 엄중하게 사수할 준비를 하고 있어요.”]
However, North Korean sources predict that the number of defectors who could not endure the hardships of living due to the lockdown in North Korea that started on the 12th will continue.
[대북 소식통 : “갑자기 이렇게 밖에 못 나가게 하니까 당장 먹을 게 없어서 이러다간 굶어죽겠다 그래서 탈북 시도를 할 가능성이 높죠.”]
There are also observations that if North Korea does not lift the long-term lockdown due to the COVID-19 quarantine, it could lead to a large-scale defection.
The Chinese authorities also conducted three PCR tests on border cities over the past three days.
We look anxiously at the 1,300-kilometer-long border.
This is Sekyun Oh from KBS News from Shenyang.
Cinematography: Jeon Young-geol / Video Editing: Lee Hyun-mo / Graphics: Kim Ji-hoon / Research: Ahn So-hyun