North Korean Soldier defects to South after Killing two Officers

[asianobserve]

By Jun Yang - Oct 6, 2012
Bloomberg


A North Korean soldier defected to the South through the Demilitarized Zone after killing his platoon and squad leaders, according to an official at South Korea's defense ministry.

The soldier crossed the western part of the military demarcation line around noon today, the official said, asking not to be identified because of military policy.

Six gunshots were heard before the North Korean was seen to run over the border, Yonhap news agency reported. The man is being questioned by a joint team of related agencies, Yonhap said, citing South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

North Korea and South Korea remain technically at war since their 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice rather than a treaty. No unusual activity by the North Korean military has been noticed since the desertion today, Yonhap said.

More than 2,700 North Koreans fled to the South last year, raising the total number of defectors from the communist regime to 23,100 as of the end of 2011, according to the most recent estimate from South Korea's Ministry of Unification in January.

The last time a North Korean soldier fled across the Demilitarized Zone was in March 2010, according to the Yonhap report. The division of the Korean peninsula at the 38th parallel is 250 kilometers (155 miles) long and 4 kilometers wide, according to NASA.

N. Korean Soldier Defects Across DMZ After Killing Two Officers - Bloomberg



What happened?

 

[Bangalorean]

Interesting. "Western part of demarcation line" is vague. Might have been in Panmunjom - the other parts of the DMZ are too heavily fenced and manned to allow this kind of thing.

 

[mayfair]

Interesting. "Western part of demarcation line" is vague. Might have been in Panmunjom - the other parts of the DMZ are too heavily fenced and manned to allow this kind of thing.

Actually Panmunjon is far easier to cross than the other parts, but I recall reading a few reports where folks tried the sea route and also across the Kumangsan.

 

[amoy]

Panmunjon

 

[Bangalorean]

^^ I've been here. The gravel is South and the concrete is North (the second-last image).

Now, my target is to try and approach this from the North. let us see when I can do that.

 

[Bangalorean]

Actually Panmunjon is far easier to cross than the other parts, but I recall reading a few reports where folks tried the sea route and also across the Kumangsan.

Speaking of land route, afaik Panmunjom is the only place where one can run across, and that too at great risk of being shot from behind!! Sea route may also be possible, but the most common route that defectors take is via China. They live miserable lives in North East China, constantly at risk of imprisonment and deportation, till they earn enough money to be able to get out of China one day, and into the South.