But this is not the first time: In July 2020, a 24-year-old North Korean defector who had been living in the South swam across a river back to his hometown in the North. Later that month, North Korean authorities locked down the city of Kaesong, saying the person who returned from the South displayed covid-19 symptoms and possibly spread the virus in the region.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 03, 2022 15:33 UTC