- Victim managed to escape the dictatorship and is now being treated in hospital
- Crossed to the South at Panmunjom, only place where troops come face-to-face
- Military defections are not uncommon, but rare at tourist attraction Panmunjom
A North Korean soldier has been shot by his own while fleeing across the border to defect to the South.
The victim managed to escape the totalitarian dictatorship and is now being treated in hospital.
He crossed to the South side of the Joint Security Area at Panmunjom, the only portion of the Demilitarised Zone where forces from the two sides come face-to-face, the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea’s military said in a statement.
The victim managed to escape the totalitarian dictatorship and is now being treated in hospital. Pictured: South Korean troops at the border village of Panmunjom
Over the decades since the peninsula was divided, dozens of North Korean soldiers have fled to the South through the DMZ, which extends for two kilometers either side of the actual borderline. Pictured: File photos of North Korean troops at Panmunjom
He crossed to the South side of the Joint Security Area at Panmunjom (pictured), the only portion of the Demilitarised Zone where forces from the two sides come face-to-face, the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea’s military said in a statement
Military defections across the heavily fortified DMZ dividing the two Koreas are not uncommon, but they are rare at Panmunjom (pictured), which is a major tourist attraction
‘Our military has taken in a North Korean soldier after he crossed from a North Korea post towards our Freedom House,’ the statement said, referring to a building on the South side of the village which is bisected by the border.
Details of his condition were not immediately available.
Military defections across the heavily fortified DMZ dividing the two Koreas are not uncommon, but they are rare at Panmunjom – a major tourist attraction.
Two North Korean soldiers defected to the South in June after crossing the frontier at another location.
Over the decades since the peninsula was divided, dozens of North Korean soldiers have fled to the South through the DMZ, which extends for two kilometers either side of the actual borderline.
Relations between the two sides have been tense for months, as the North stepped up its missile tests. In September the North carried out its sixth and largest nuclear test, of what it described as a hydrogen bomb.