Dramatic video shows escape, shooting of North Korean defector

A North Korean soldier made a desperate dash to freedom in a jeep and then on foot, being shot at least five times as he limped across the border and was rescued by South Korean soldiers, according to dramatic video released by the U.S.-led U.N. command on Wednesday.

The North violated the armistice agreement ending the Korean War by firing across and physically crossing the border in pursuit of the soldier, Col. Chad G. Carroll, a spokesman for the U.N. command, told reporters in a live TV briefing. North Korean soldiers fired about 40 rounds at the defector, who remains hospitalised after two rounds of surgery.

The video shows the soldier speeding down a tree-lined road, past dun-coloured fields and shocked North Korean soldiers, who begin to run after him. He crashes the jeep 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 meters (feet) away. There were no tour groups at the time of the defection, Col.Carroll said.

Soldiers from the North sprint to the area, firing their weapons 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.

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

Your Opinion Counts !