Japanese man caught trying to sneak into N. Korea: officials

By Sam Kim

SEOUL, March 19 (Yonhap) -- A Japanese man appearing to be mentally unstable has been taken into custody after trying to cross into North Korea with a pair of wire cutters, South Korean officials said Thursday.

The 40-year-old man, identified only as K, approached the fence in the Cheorwon
area, about 70 km northeast of Seoul, and was detained after being spotted by
South Korean guards who were patrolling the area, officials at the Ministry of
National Defense said.
The man has been handed over to the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, officials said.
The man initially claimed he was trying to cross into North Korea in an attempt
to protest tension on the divided peninsula and promote the cause of peace, said
the officials, who declined to be named.
The man also told the authorities he was trying to travel to China via North
Korea, the officials said, adding that he continued to recant his own statements
about his motive.
"He appeared mentally ill. He was seen wandering near the border after walking
into the patrol zone," an official said. He was said to have arrived in South
Korea's southeastern port city of Busan 10 days ago.
The two Koreas remain in a technical state of war after the 1950-53 Korean War
ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty.