A NORTH Korean soldier has been seen racing for the border in a vehicle and then on foot before his former comrades shoot him at least five times as he limps into South Korea.
The defection, subsequent surgeries and slow recovery of the soldier have riveted South Korea, but it will be a huge embarrassment for the north, which claims all defections are the result of rival Seoul kidnapping or enticing North Koreans to defect. Pyongyang has said nothing about the defection so far.
North Korea’s actions during the defector’s November 13 escape at Panmunjom violated the armistice agreement ending the 1950-53 Korean War because North Korean soldiers fired across and physically crossed the border in pursuit of the soldier, US Colonel Chad G Carroll, a spokesman for the UN command, told reporters in a live TV briefing.
The video, released by the US-led UN command, shows the soldier speeding down a tree-lined road, headlights on, past dun-coloured fields and shocked North Korean soldiers who begin to run after him. He crashes the jeep into a ditch near the line that divides North and South and the blue huts familiar to anyone who’s toured the area. It is the part of the border where North and South Korean soldiers face each other at their closest distance just metres apart. There were no tour groups at the time of the defection, Col Carroll said.
Soldiers from the North sprint to the area, firing handguns and AK rifles — about 40 rounds, the South says - at the defector; one hurries across the dividing line before running back to the northern side. South Korean soldiers then crawl up to the defector, who has fallen injured in a mass of leaves against a small wall. They drag him to safety as North Korean troops begin to gather on their side of the line.
A UN Command helicopter later transported him to the Ajou University Medical Centre near Seoul. Surprisingly, North and South Korean soldiers did not exchange fire in the first shooting in the area in more than three decades. In 1984, North Korean and UN Command soldiers traded shots when a Soviet citizen defected by sprinting to the South Korean sector.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here