남한에 정착해 살던 탈북자가 어선을 훔쳐 타고 서해 북방한계선(NLL)을 넘어 월북했다.
군 당국은 탈북자 이혁철(28)씨가 연평도에서 어선(9t•진흥3호)을 훔쳐 3일 오 후 10시49분께 NLL을 넘어 월북했다고 4일 밝혔다.
이씨는 북한을 탈출해 2007년 3월20일 국내에 입국해 정착했다. 그는 2개월 전에 연평도로 들어와 꽃게잡이 어선인 진흥3호에 취업한 것으로 알려졌다.
이씨는 중국으로 탈북했다가 입북하고 또다시 탈북했다가 입북하는 등 한국에 정착하기 전까지 과거 4차례나 탈북과 입북을 반복했던 것으로 전해졌다.
군의 한 관계자는 "월북 어선은 연평도 동남방에서 연안을 거쳐 NLL로 향했다"
면서 "오후 10시46분께 NLL 남방 900m 지점에 있는 어선을 레이더로 포착했고 즉시 고속정이 출동했으나 이미 NLL을 월선해 추가 조치를 하지 않았다"고 말했다.
그는 "어선은 주간에 어업활동을 마친 후 부두에 정박한 상태였다"면서 "꽃게잡 이 선원인 이씨가 밤에 어선을 불법으로 탈취한 것으로 보인다"고 설명했다.
군 관계자는 "보통 어선이 항구에 입항하면 어선통제소에 엔진 키를 맡겨야 했는데 최근 선주가 관리하는 것으로 바뀌어 어선에 키가 꽂혀 있었다"고 전했다.
선주는 북으로 향하는 이씨에게 휴대전화를 걸어 "돌아오라"고 종용했으나 이 씨는 폭언을 하며 그대로 도주한 것으로 알려졌다.
군 관계자는 "공교롭게도 어선이 우리 레이더망 사각지대로 들어간 것으로 보인 다"면서 "초병이 배가 나가는 것을 봤지만 어황이 좋은 자리를 선점하기 위해 일찍 출항한 것으로 판단한 것 같다"고 말했다.
군은 관계기관과 합동으로 정확한 사건 경위를 조사 중이다. (연합뉴스)
<관련 영문 기사>
N. Korean defector in South crosses western sea border
A North Korean defector who was living in South Korea crossed the tensely guarded western sea border on a fishing boat he stole, military officials said Thursday, amid high tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Lee Hyeok-chul, 28, stole a 9-ton crab fishing boat on the border island of Yeonpyeong and sailed across the maritime border called the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the Yellow Sea at 10:49 p.m. on Wednesday.
"The ship was anchored at a port after being used for fishing during the daytime," a senior military official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. "The crab fisherman is seen to have illegally taken the ship at night."
The keys had been left in the engine of the fishing boat, according to officials.
The boat's owner called Lee's cell phone to urge him to return, but he continued sailing north, the official said, in an apparent attempt to return to the communist country.
By the time the South Korean Navy detected the ship approaching the NLL, it was only 1 kilometer from the border, the military officials noted.
"The ship is seen to have made its approach near the radar's blind spot," the official said.
Lee had fled his communist homeland and arrived in the South in March 2007, and came to Yeonpyeong Island two months ago to work as a crab fisherman, they noted. Lee is known to have fled North Korea on four occasions before entering South Korea.
"Investigations are currently underway to figure out the exact cause of his border crossing," a defense ministry official said.
The defector's border crossing came at a time when military tensions are close to reaching a flash point in the wake of bellicose rhetoric from Pyongyang in response to joint drills by South Korea and the United States and additional U.N. sanctions imposed in response to its third nuclear test in February.
Yeonpyeong Island, located 1.5 kilometers south of the maritime border, was shelled in November 2010 by a North Korean attack, which killed four South Koreans.
The small island, which is famous for crab fishing, is ready for war at any time, lined with tank traps and trenches, and equipped with fully stocked shelters to which residents can go during air raid drills.
After the North last month threatened to strike the front-line island in response to joint drills in the South, more tanks and artillery pieces are now placed within easy range of North Korea.
The two Koreas remain technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. (Yonhap News)
