North Korea soldier shot while defecting at DMZ to South
Source: BBC
North Korea soldier shot while defecting at DMZ to South
55 minutes ago
A North Korean soldier has defected to South Korea at the heavily protected Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), South Korea's military says. ... The soldier was shot and injured by his own military as he crossed to the South Korean side of the Joint Security Area in the village of Panmunjom. ... The defector has been taken to hospital.
About 1,000 people from the North flee to the South each year - but very few defect via the DMZ. ... This is the fourth defection by a North Korean soldier via the DMZ - one of the world's most heavily guarded strips of land - in the last three years.
....
According to a statement from South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, the soldier made it across by passing through the Joint Security Area (JSA) at Panmunjom, which is the only portion of the Demilitarised Zone where both forces stand face-to-face.
"He crossed from a North Korea post towards our Freedom House [a building on the South Korean side of the border]," the statement said. He was hit in the arm and shoulder by gunfire, it added.
Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41967841
#NorthKorean soldier defects by crossing Joint Security Area at Demilitarised Zone and is shot by his fellow soldiers. Most guarded part of world's most heavily-fortified border. Extremely rare for defectors to choose that route. In hospital recovering.
Link to tweet
According to @YonhapNews this is the 3rd defection across the JSA since end of Cold War. One soldier crossed in 1998, another in 2007. This defector shot in elbow and shoulder and has regained consciousness. Will be prized by the South.
Link to tweet
* * * * *
Meanwhile:
U.S. MAN ARRESTED FOR TRYING TO ENTER NORTH KOREA WHILE NORTH KOREAN SOLDIER WAS SHOT AND WOUNDED IN RARE DEFECTION
BY SOFIA LOTTO PERSIO ON 11/13/17 AT 6:23 AM
http://www.newsweek.com/us-man-arrested-trying-enter-north-korea-while-north-korean-soldier-shot-709154
An American citizen from Louisiana was arrested in South Korea for attempting to cross the Civilian Control Line (CCL) into North Korea for “political purposes."
A local resident spotted the 58-year-old man, who was only identified as “A,” trespassing on the northern side of the border line, and alerted the authorities, who detained him on Monday morning.
The American arrived in South Korea Friday and a joint probe between the police, the army and the secret services, was set up to investigate the incident, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.
The CCL is drawn just below the demilitarized zone (DMZ), the heavily-guarded border area serving as a buffer between the North and the South. It is often referred to as one of the world’s most dangerous borders, as the countries technically remain at war with one another as no peace agreement followed the 1953 Korean War armistice.
= new reply since forum marked as read
