Military authorities say there is a high chance that the person who crossed the eastern border into North Korea on Saturday is a North Korean man who had defected to the South via a similar route about a year ago. 

According to the military, police and intelligence authorities on Tuesday, cooperation is under way among related agencies to confirm the possibility. 

A police official said the person must know the area well in order to cross to the North there, and that authorities are specifically looking into North Korean defectors who may have come to the South via the same area. The official, however, cautioned that it is still too early to identify the person. 

In early November 2020, a North Korean man had successfully defected after jumping over a barbed-wire fence overseen by the Army 22nd Division. He later stated that he once was a gymnast in the North. 

A team of investigators is on site to determine whether there were insufficiencies in the military's initial response, as well as the person's travel route. The military failed to detect the breach during the initial three hours.

Meanwhile, North Korea has yet to respond to the South's notice delivered through the western military hotline on Sunday, in efforts to protect the person's safety.