Dramatic video shows North Korean soldier's escape to freedom across border as bullets fly

North Korean border guards were merely steps behind a North Korean soldier when they opened fire at him in a desperate bid to stop him crossing the border to the South Korean side, a video has shown.

The footage also revealed that one of the North Korean soldiers chasing the defector crossed the border, the U.N. Command (UNC) in Seoul said.

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 Korean War because North Korean soldiers fired across and physically crossed the border in pursuit of the soldier, Col. Chad G. Carroll, a spokesman for the UN command, told reporters in a live TV briefing.

The video 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.

The solider runs towards the border after crashing his jeep
The solider runs towards the border after crashing his jeep Credit: AP

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, which is the part of the border where North and South Korean soldiers face each other at their closest distance just feet apart. There were no tour groups at the time of the defection, 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 vehicle carries a defecting North Korean soldier races along a road in the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea
A vehicle carries a defecting North Korean soldier races along a road in the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea Credit: Reuters

A UN Command helicopter later transported him to the Ajou University Medical Centre near Seoul.

Surprisingly, North and South Korean soldiers didn’t exchange fire in the first shooting in the area in more than three decades.

The UN command said the North violated the armistice by "one, firing weapons across the MDL, and two, by actually crossing the MDL temporarily," referring to the military demarcation line that bisects the Koreas. KPA stands for the North’s Korean People’s Army.

A UN Command statement said officials notified the North’s military of these violations and requested a meeting to discuss the investigation results and measures to prevent future such violations.

A North Korea soldier runs across the military demarcation line (MDL) while in pursuit of a defector 
A North Korea soldier runs across the military demarcation line (MDL) while in pursuit of a defector  Credit: AFP

About 30,000 North Koreans have fled to South Korea, mostly via China, since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

After undergoing two surgeries last week to repair internal organ damage and other injuries, the soldier is now conscious and no longer relies on a breathing machine, according to hospital official Shin Mi-jeong.

"He is fine," lead surgeon Lee Cook-Jong said at a press conference in Suwon. "He is not going to die."

While his condition is improving, doctors plan to keep him at the intensive care unit for at least several more days to guard against possible infections.

North Korea soldiers, at a landmark known to the thousands of tourists who visit the border, react to the news of a defection from Panmungok
North Korea soldiers, at a landmark known to the thousands of tourists who visit the border, react to the news of a defection from Panmungok Credit: AFP

The soldier show signs of depression and possible trauma, the hospital said, and continuing stress made the soldier hesitant to talk, but he had been cooperative.

To allay his fears and reassure him he was indeed in the South, medical staff apparently placed a South Korean flag in his room and were also using psychotherapy.

After he received confirmation that he was in fact in South Korea, he reportedly said he would “like to listen to South Korean songs,” the South Korean newspaper Dong-a Ilbo reported.

The surgeon said he believed the soldier left North Korea of his own volition, but did not offer any more insight into the man's motivation for making the dangerous escape.

A North Korean soldier lies injured on the ground in Panmunjom after trying to escape across the border
A North Korean soldier lies injured on the ground in Panmunjom after trying to escape across the border Credit: AP

The defector is believed to be an army staff sergeant in his mid-20s who was stationed in the Joint Security Area in the United Nations truce village of Panmunjom, according to Kim Byung-kee, a lawmaker of South Korea’s ruling party, briefed by the National Intelligence Service last week.

The JSA, jointly overseen by the American-led U.N. Command and by North Korea, is inside the 4-kilometer (2 1/2-mile) -wide Demilitarised Zone, which has been the de facto border between the Koreas since the war.

While treating the wounds, surgeons removed dozens of parasites from the soldier’s ruptured small intestine, including presumed roundworms that were as long as 27 centimetres, which may reflect poor nutrition and health in North Korea’s military. The soldier is 5 feet, 7 inches tall but weighs just 9.4 stone.

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