Watch dramatic video showing North Korean forces chasing, firing on defecting soldier
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North Korean soldier defects to South Korea in a dramatic video.
United States military officials Wednesday released dramatic video showing the daring defection — and eventual rescue — of a North Korean soldier who barreled across the Demilitarized Zone in a truck and then ran as fellow troops fired on him.
The video, shot the afternoon of Nov. 13, shows the soldier speeding down a road toward the Joint Security Area, a border outpost that’s been the site of military skirmishes and diplomatic talks between the Koreas, still technically at war, and the U.S.
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The soldier can be seen driving in a green military-style vehicle past a North Korean checkpoint before wheeling past a monument inside the area, where soldiers from both sides of the conflict are posted in relatively close proximity. The footage is a series of videos taken from different cameras at different angles.
At the start of the most dramatic section of the video, around the 2:27 mark, North Korean soldiers can be seen running from a building that faces the South Korean side of the compound. They pursue the soldier, firing as he abandons his vehicle, which appeared stuck in a grassy area. He then runs, collapsing against a concrete wall amid a pile of fallen leaves.
At around the 6-minute mark, South Korean soldiers can be seen crawling to rescue the defector. They finally reach him and drag him to safety.
The soldier, shot several times, underwent surgery and treatment for parasitic worms, doctors said, before regaining consciousness on Tuesday. His prognosis is uncertain.
The incident — one of many over the years at the border crossing — has captured the attention of South Korean news media amid heightened tensions over the communist country’s development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
During the incident, U.S. forces say, a North Korean soldier crossed a military demarcation line — a potential violation of the uneasy armistice between the countries set after the Korean War. The incident is among many skirmishes over the years at the location, a famous spot among tourists and visiting dignitaries because of its close proximity to North Korean soldiers.
When U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited the site in the spring, soldiers from the North could be seen peering into one of the huts designated for inter-Korean talks. The site has been generally quiet in recent years, but in the 1980s a Russian tourist tried to flee from the North, causing a shootout that killed four soldiers.
Among the most famous skirmishes was the 1976 “ax murder incident.” In that case, United States and South Korean forces attempting to trim a poplar tree on the border in the summer of 1976 were attacked by North Korean counterparts wielding axes and knives. Two U.S. Army officers, Arthur Bonifas and Mark Barrett, were killed.
The incident prompted President Ford to approve Operation Paul Bunyan, a massive show of force three days later in which dozens of allied service members — including some in attack helicopters and long-range bombers — supervised the felling of the tree. A memorial remains in its place. One of the soldiers there was Moon Jae-in, now South Korea’s president.
United States military officials here said their investigation shows that North Korean forces violated the armistice agreement by firing their weapons across the military demarcation line, which is intended to prevent armed skirmishes at the site.
American officials said that North Korean officials received a notice Wednesday about the alleged violations and that a meeting had been requested to discuss the issue.
Army Gen. Vincent Brooks, who commands U.S. forces in South Korea and at the DMZ, said security forces on the South Korean side of the compound acted appropriately and sought to deescalate the situation.
“The armistice agreement was challenged, but it remains in place," he said in a written statement.
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AdvertisementHarassment of female Korean soldier ends in suicide双语新闻：一名朝鲜军人投奔韩国身受重伤 North Korean Soldier Seriously Wounded in Defection Bid - VOA英语教学
一名朝鲜军人投奔韩国身受重伤 North Korean Soldier Seriously Wounded in Defection Bid
一名朝鲜士兵星期一投奔韩国时被其他朝鲜军人开***击中数次。
美国领导的负责监督分割南北方非军事区的联合国军司令部发布声明说，这名朝鲜士兵驾车开往重兵把守的南北分界线时一个车轮陷入壕沟后，离开汽车冲向分界线韩国一侧。他的同伴朝他开了至少40***。他身上有至少6处***伤。
叛逃的朝鲜士兵冲到非军事区的联合保安地带，躲在一个建筑物后面，后来被韩国和美国军人解救，用直升机送到韩国水原市的亚洲大学医院，为他进行手术。一名治疗他的医生说，他的伤势十分严重，手术后的恢复前景不得而知。
韩国军方发言人说，事发期间韩国军人和美国军人都没有还击。朝鲜加紧开发试射核武器和弹道导弹，半岛局势日趋紧张。
这是1984年以来非军事区第一次发生***击。1984年有一名苏联公民穿越分界线投奔韩国时双方发生了交火。
1998年和2007年各有一名朝鲜军人穿过非军事区投奔韩国。
A North Korean soldier was shot several times by his fellow soldiers as he was defecting to the South Monday.
A statement by the U.S.-led United Nations Command, which monitors the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas, says the soldier was driving towards the heavily guarded border when one of the vehicle's wheels fell into a ditch. The soldier left the car and made a run for the border, as he was showered by a hail of at least 40 bullets from his ex-comrades. He suffered at least six gunshot wounds.
The defector managed to reach the Joint Security Area within the DMZ and took cover behind a building. He was later rescued by South Korean and U.S. soldiers, and transported by helicopter to the Ajou University Hospital in Suwon, where he underwent surgery for his wounds. One of the doctors treating him says the soldier's condition is "very serious" and his prognosis unclear.
A South Korean military spokesman says that neither the South Korean nor U.S. soldiers returned fire during the incident, which happened amid worsening tensions on the peninsula over Pyongyang's increasing belligerence involving its nuclear and ballistic missile development program.
This is the first shooting incident at the DMZ since 1984, when the two sides exchanged gunfire when a Soviet citizen ran across the border to defect to the South.
A North Korean soldier crossed the JSA to defect in 1998, with another soldier defecting there in 2007.
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