Military failed to detect defectors' boat, but will hand out awards anyway

Despite military authorities' initial failure to detect a North Korean wooden boat as it crossed the NLL in the East Sea last week, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) decided to award units and soldiers who later identified and tracked the vessel.

The South Korean military tows a small wooden boat that carried four North Korean defectors who crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the East Sea on Oct. 24. [YONHAP]

Despite military authorities' initial failure to detect a North Korean wooden boat as it crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the East Sea last week, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) decided to award units and soldiers who later identified and tracked the vessel.

The JCS announced Wednesday plans to reward four units and 15 soldiers who contributed to the operation, including the initial identification, tracking and surveillance of the wooden vessel after it crossed south of the NLL, the de facto inter-Korean maritime border.

"The military plans to reward meritorious units and personnel who contributed to identifying and taking action on the North Korean small wooden boat in the East Sea on Oct. 24."

On Oct. 24, four North Koreans crossed the eastern maritime border on a small wooden boat, first spotted by fishermen.

The Coast Guard later arrived on the scene and secured the 7.5-meter-long boat in waters east of Sokcho, Gangwon, finding one man, two women and a girl, apparently a North Korean family wishing to defect to the South.

Some critics pointed out that awarding military units and personnel was a hasty decision amid criticism over the delayed military response, with the JCS deploying a ship and maritime patrol plane to the scene only after the fishermen reported it to the Coast Guard.

The incident further raised concerns over a possible vacuum in the South Korean military's maritime surveillance, as it could not initially detect the boat as it crossed the NLL.

However, the JCS said it would reward the units and soldiers for tracking the wooden ship after it crossed the NLL by radar and thermal observation devices, or TOD.

Military officials point out the NLL in the East Sea is over 400 kilometers (248 miles) wide, so it is virtually impossible to detect every small vessel crossing the maritime border.

The units and military personnel will receive awards from the defense minister or the JCS chairman.

Two fishermen who discovered and reported the North Korean boat will also receive certificates of appreciation for reporting the boat.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]