South Korea is broadcasting news to the North about the condition of a soldier who defected earlier this month by blasting reports through loudspeakers at the Demilitarized Zone border.
The 24-year-old North Korean soldier, identified only by his surname, Oh, was shot several times when he ran across the border on November 13.
South Korea is now sending messages to the North using the FM Radio ‘Freedom Voice’ system installed near the heavily armed border.
The reports also highlight the perceived violations of an armistice agreement by soldiers who shot at Oh – the soldiers allegedly crossed the Military Demarcation Line as they chased him.
South Korea is now sending messages to the North using the FM Radio ‘Freedom Voice’ system installed near the heavily armed border, where a 24-year-old soldier defected on November 12. Pictured above, soldiers removing loudspeakers near the demilitarized zone in Paju in 2004
The speakers, which have been described as ‘psychological warfare’ by South Korean media, can be heard from 20km and have reportedly influenced North Korean soldiers to defect in the past.
Loudspeakers have long been used by the South to spread use to the North.
The system was used in August 2015 when soldiers were maimed by landmines in DMZ. At the the time the North threatened to attack the speakers.
The use of the speakers was re-launched in January after North Korea’s fourth nuclear test in January.
Oh made his dash over the border at Panmunjom on November 13.
Footage showed his former comrades opening fire on him as he raced on foot over the line that divides the two countries, after driving a military jeep to the Joint Security Area portion of the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
He was shot at least four times in his daring bid, and was found by South Korean troops slumped in a pile of leaves just south of the border.
In an apparent attempt to prevent further defections, the North Koreans have begun fortifying the border area where Oh crossed.
A picture posted on the Twitter account of acting US ambassador to South Korea, Marc Knapper, showed North Korean workers digging a deep trench on the North Korean side of the line as soldiers looked on.
A picture posted on the Twitter account of acting US ambassador to South Korea, Marc Knapper, showed North Korean workers digging a deep trench on the North Korean side of the line as soldiers looked on
A 24-year-old North Korean soldier, identified only by his surname, Oh, was shot several times when he ran across the border on November 13
‘Was at JSA today, the North Koreans have planted two trees and are digging a trench at the spot where their soldier crossed the MDL (military demarcation line),’ Knapper tweeted.
It was not clear if the spot photographed was exactly the same as the location of the defection, although it appeared to be similar.
The North Koreans have also reportedly closed down a bridge that leads into Panmunjom from the North after Oh drove across it without being stopped, a South Korean military source said, according to the Chosun Ilbo report.
Analysts said the closing down of the so-called 72-Hour Bridge is likely temporary, as it is the only bridge that connects the North to Panmunjom.
‘All commodities for North Korean guards at Panmunjom are delivered through the bridge,’ said Yang Moo-Jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.
‘In that regard, it is probably closed temporarily for investigation and as a symbolic measure.’
The defector, who has undergone surgery twice, has been transferred to a general ward from the intensive care unit, Yonhap news agency reported Thursday.
Citing hospital officials, the report said Oh has been in a stable condition since regaining consciousness and would be moved to a military hospital, depending on his recovery.
Oh is a quiet, pleasant man who has nightmares about being returned to the North, his surgeon said on Thursday.
The soldier has undergone surgery and transfered to a genderal ward from the intensive care unit. Pictured above, Lee Cook-jong, a South Korean surgeon who operated the defected North Korean soldier with gunshots
‘He’s a pretty nice guy,’ said lead surgeon John Cook-Jong Lee, who has been operating and caring for the 24-year-old.
The surgeon, who has hung a South Korean flag in the soldier’s room, said he is avoiding subjects that may disturb his patient.
As of Thursday, Oh was eating his first ‘clear liquid’ food such as broths, and could smile, talk, and use his hands, Lee said.
But when his patient woke last Sunday he cried out in pain, and Lee said he is still anxious about the South Korean guards.
Lee said Oh told him that he had joined the North Korean army when he was 17, right after secondary school graduation.
The soldier’s hair is styled ‘like a jarhead, like a U.S. Marine, so I actually joked “why don’t you join the South Korean Marines?” He smiled and said that he would never ever go back to the military system again’.
Medical teams have worked for days to remove the shards of at least four bullets from Oh’s body, stitch up his shredded organs, and treat pre-existing conditions including tuberculosis, hepatitis B, and a case of massive intestinal worms, Lee said.
‘He’s a quite strong man,’ said Lee.
US Forces in Korea on Thursday recognised six South Korean and US servicemen at the JSA ‘for their efforts in rescuing (the) North Korean defector’, its official Facebook page said.
The security camera footage released by the UN Command showed soldiers crawling towards the injured North Korean soldier and hauling him to safety.