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[snoop1130]

Escape from North Korea: video shows defector under fire

By Haejin Choi and Josh Smith

 

 

SEOUL (Reuters) - A North Korean border guard briefly crossed the border with the South in the chase for a defector last week - a violation of the ceasefire accord between North and South, a video released on Wednesday by the U.N. Command (UNC) in Seoul showed.

 

The North Koreans were only steps behind the young man when they shot him at least four times as he made his escape on Nov. 13. The video, filmed as the defector drove an army truck through the demilitarized zone and then abandoned the vehicle, gives a dramatic insight into his escape.

 

The defector, identified by a surgeon as a 24-year-old with the family name Oh, was flown by a U.S. military helicopter to a hospital in Suwon, south of Seoul. Doctors said he had regained consciousness, having had two operations to extract the bullets, and his breathing was stable and unassisted.

 

"He is fine," lead surgeon Lee Cook-Jong said at a news conference in Suwon. "He is not going to die."

 

A UNC official said North Korea had been informed on Wednesday that it had violated the 1953 armistice agreement, which marked the cessation of hostilities in the Korean War.

 

The UNC official told a news conference that a soldier from the North Korean People's Army (KPA) had crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), the border between the two Koreas, for a few seconds as others fired shots at the defecting soldier.

 

"The key findings of the special investigation team are that the KPA violated the armistice agreement by one, firing weapons across the MDL, and two, by actually crossing the MDL temporarily," Chad Carroll, Director of Public Affairs for the UNC, told reporters.

 

The incident comes at a time of heightened tensions between North Korea and the international community over its nuclear weapons programme, but Pyongyang has not publicly responded to the defection.

 

The video, released by the UNC, was produced from surveillance cameras on the southern side of the the Joint Security Area (JSA) inside the demilitarized zone. When tree cover is too dense to see the wounded defector crawling across the border, it switches to infra-red.

 

DESPERATE ESCAPE

 

The film begins with a lone dark green army jeep speeding along empty, tree-lined roads towards the border.

 

At one checkpoint, a North Korean guard marches impassively towards the approaching vehicle. It races by. He runs in pursuit.

 

After passing a memorial to North Korea founder Kim Il Sung, where tourists often gather, the jeep runs into a ditch just metres from the border, which is not clearly marked.

 

For several minutes the driver tries to free the vehicle, but the wheels spin uselessly in fallen leaves.

 

The driver abandons the vehicle and sprints away, pushing tree branches out of his way and sending leaves flying.

 

He scrambles up a slope to cross just seconds before more guards appear, shooting as they run.

 

One slides into a pile of dead leaves to open fire before running forward and appearing to briefly cross the dividing line between the two countries. He quickly turns on his heel.

 

The video does not show the moment the defector is hit, but he is seen lying in a pile of brush next to a concrete wall in a later edited clip.

 

The UNC's Carroll said the position was still exposed to North Korean checkpoints across the border.

 

Allied troops operating the cameras had by then notified their commanders and a quick reaction force had assembled on the South Korean side, according to Carroll. The video does not show this force.

 

Infrared imagery shows two South Korean soldiers crawling through undergrowth to drag the wounded North Korean to safety, while the deputy commander of the border security unit oversees the rescue from a few metres away.

 

LONG RECOVERY

 

Doctors have conducted a series of surgeries to remove four bullets from the critically wounded soldier, who arrived at the hospital having lost a large amount of blood.

 

"From a medical point of view he was almost dead when he was first brought here," said the surgeon, Lee.

 

Hospital officials said the man remains in intensive care.

 

The soldier showed signs of depression and possible trauma, in addition to a serious case of parasites that has complicated his treatment, the hospital said in a statement. Lee said last week one of the flesh-coloured parasites he removed from the soldier's digestive tract was 27 cm (10.6 in) long.

 

Continuing stress made the soldier hesitant to talk, but he had been cooperative, doctors said.

 

The patient first recovered consciousness on Sunday, and asked where he was in South Korea, Lee said. He was in "agony" when he came to, the surgeon added.

 

Since then doctors have played South Korean pop music for him, and American action movies including "The Transporter" from 2002.

 

On average more than 1,000 North Koreans defect to the South every year, but most travel via China and numbers have fallen since Kim Jong Un came to power in 2011. It is unusual for a North Korean to cross the land border dividing the two Koreas. They have been in a technical state of war since their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

 

The last time a North Korean soldier had defected across the JSA was in 2007.

 

(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin, Christine Kim, and James Pearson; Writing by Josh Smith; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Sara Ledwith)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-11-22

 

[baboon]

"For several minutes the driver tries to free the vehicle, but the wheels spin uselessly in fallen leaves"

 

Er, no he doesn't. He gets straight out and legs it. Why would he spend minutes trying to free the vehicle under pursuit when the MDL is spitting distance away?

[Proboscis]

Any particular reason why we were given no link to the video so that we could judge for ourselves?

[evadgib]

https://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0be_1511320827

[hawker9000]

One of thug Kim's not-so-satisfied customers.   'Hope he's leaving no family or close friends behind in the north...

 

 

[Somtamnication]

He ran past 2 other NK soldiers who kept firing. Horrible aim. Yes, he got hit 5-7 times, but being one metre away from the others, he should have had 100 rounds of AK 47 lead in him.

 

Hope he recovers well.

[Scott]

4 minutes ago, Somtamnication said:

He ran past 2 other NK soldiers who kept firing. Horrible aim. Yes, he got hit 5-7 times, but being one metre away from the others, he should have had 100 rounds of AK 47 lead in him.

 

Hope he recovers well.

There are advantages to being as thin as a sheet of paper, I guess.  

[nausea]

Well, as potential opponents - on the plus side, their aim is crap (bullets and live fire training costs money); on the negative side, they're as tough as old boots, parasites 'n all. 

[lvr181]

Happy that he made it (don't see any 'escaping' from anywhere else to NK) and hope he recovers quickly.

[Sydebolle]

Reminds me of the GDR border to West Germany in the 60s and 70s with similar scenes. 

Wondering if anything at all was broadcasted in Pyongyang on the issue.

Maybe it's time to clean up the place, vent the Stalinist government offices and teach General Fatty all about a 21st century hair cut? 

[simon43]

The border guard who momentarily pursued him into south Korea possibly made the wrong decision to turn back - he should have dropped his weapon and kept on running.

[baboon]

13 minutes ago, simon43 said:

The border guard who momentarily pursued him into south Korea possibly made the wrong decision to turn back - he should have dropped his weapon and kept on running.

They aren't border guards, they are army. 

It is a good posting and the soldiers there are quite well looked after as the regime knows eyes are on them, so presumably there is less reason to defect.

[craigt3365]

15 hours ago, baboon said:

"For several minutes the driver tries to free the vehicle, but the wheels spin uselessly in fallen leaves"

 

Er, no he doesn't. He gets straight out and legs it. Why would he spend minutes trying to free the vehicle under pursuit when the MDL is spitting distance away?

The video I watched shows the wheels spinning and kicking up leaves. Looks like the vehicle got stuck in that ditch.

[craigt3365]

2 hours ago, baboon said:

They aren't border guards, they are army. 

It is a good posting and the soldiers there are quite well looked after as the regime knows eyes are on them, so presumably there is less reason to defect.

Kim just fired one or two of his top military leaders due to this. I'll try to find the article.

[baboon]

38 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

Kim just fired one or two of his top military leaders due to this. I'll try to find the article.

Strikes me as an exercise in futility. How could they have possibly known and what more could have reasonably been done?

[craigt3365]

8 minutes ago, baboon said:

Strikes me as an exercise in futility. How could they have possibly known and what more could have reasonably been done?

I'm on a tablet. Can't find the article. But they also said it was normal for him to shuffle military leaders every year. Keeps them from getting to powerful.

 

Of course he did kill his uncle with an anti aircraft gun. This was a big embarrassment.

 

Have you read the ebook from Gomes? It was about his time in captivity there. Could be interesting. Gomes just died in San Diego. Burned himself, possibly.

[baboon]

9 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

I'm on a tablet. Can't find the article. But they also said it was normal for him to shuffle military leaders every year. Keeps them from getting to powerful.

 

Of course he did kill his uncle with an anti aircraft gun. This was a big embarrassment.

 

Have you read the ebook from Gomes? It was about his time in captivity there. Could be interesting. Gomes just died in San Diego. Burned himself, possibly.

It is rare that a book on North Korea escapes me, but I shall have to hold my hands up and confess I have never even heard of it. Do you have a link?

[craigt3365]

13 minutes ago, baboon said:

It is rare that a book on North Korea escapes me, but I shall have to hold my hands up and confess I have never even heard of it. Do you have a link?

http://www.charonqc.co.uk/2015/12/23/conversation-aijalon-gomes-conversation-aijalon-gomes-as-a-second-installment-in-the-conversation-series-for-charon-qc-we-convened-an-interview-with-aijalon-mahli-gomes-mr-gomes-is-the-ameri/

 

https://www.amazon.com/Violence-Humanity-Aijalon-M-G-ebook/dp/B00YFOH07S

 

 

[baboon]

32 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

http://www.charonqc.co.uk/2015/12/23/conversation-aijalon-gomes-conversation-aijalon-gomes-as-a-second-installment-in-the-conversation-series-for-charon-qc-we-convened-an-interview-with-aijalon-mahli-gomes-mr-gomes-is-the-ameri/

 

https://www.amazon.com/Violence-Humanity-Aijalon-M-G-ebook/dp/B00YFOH07S

 

 

Looks a worthwhile read...

[boomerangutang]

I just watched the UN videos on NPR. 

npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/11/22/566088508/video-shows-north-korean-soldiers-dramatic-sprint-across-border

 

He had 5 bullet wounds.  SK doctor found intestinal worms 11 inches long - proof of bad food/nutrition over there. 

 

"Defectors to the South have cited the existence of parasites and abysmal nutrition. Because it lacks chemical fertilizers, North Korea still relies on human excrement to fertilize its fields, helping parasites to spread, the experts said.

"In a 2014 study, South Korean doctors checked a sample of 17 female defectors from North Korea and found seven of them infected with parasitic worms."

[boomerangutang]

The NK army broke the Armistance agreement in two ways:  They fired across the border, and a pursuing soldier crossed the divide.   

 

What recourse?  I don't know.

 

If would be cool if a great large bunch of N.Koreans all went for freedom at the same time.  Wow, that would send a message to fat-in-the-head Kim and his sheeple generals.

 

I wonder if the N.Korean sheeple heard or saw video of the escape.

[craigt3365]

1 minute ago, boomerangutang said:

The NK army broke the Armistance agreement in two ways:  They fired across the border, and a pursuing soldier crossed the divide.   

 

What recourse?  I don't know.

 

If would be cool if a great large bunch of N.Koreans all went for freedom at the same time.  Wow, that would send a message to fat-in-the-head Kim and his sheeple generals.

 

I wonder if the N.Korean sheeple heard or saw video of the escape.

And yet, no outrage at this armistice violation. Can you imagine the howling here if that was done by the US?  LOL

 

Also, he has hepatitis B. Apparently that is not uncommon. Unhygiene medical practices. And no medicine.

 

The people there deserve better.

[baboon]

1 hour ago, boomerangutang said:

The NK army broke the Armistance agreement in two ways:  They fired across the border, and a pursuing soldier crossed the divide.   

 

What recourse?  I don't know.

 

If would be cool if a great large bunch of N.Koreans all went for freedom at the same time.  Wow, that would send a message to fat-in-the-head Kim and his sheeple generals.

 

I wonder if the N.Korean sheeple heard or saw video of the escape.

I hope they can sit down and thrash out a (better) protocol. Imagine if there had been US / ROK forces knocking about at the time. They would have been justified in returning fire and the situation could have really got out of hand. It is quite worrying when you consider the variables...

[boomerangutang]

12 minutes ago, baboon said:

I hope they can sit down and thrash out a (better) protocol. Imagine if there had been US / ROK forces knocking about at the time. They would have been justified in returning fire and the situation could have really got out of hand. It is quite worrying when you consider the variables...

You're right.  Any soldiers who cross the line, can be shot and killed by soldiers on the other side.  However, I doubt it would have escalated beyond a skirmish, unless vehicles or heavier weapons came into the equation.

 

It's really dumb, to keep the ding dong protocol going for decades.  Heck, Denmark and Norway went in together and built a bridge over the Skagerak.   The US and Canada jointly administer Glacier National Park.  Note, of the dozens of jointly administered parks and Heritage Centers in world, none are in Asia.   What is it about Asians and M.Easterners? .....who hold angry grudges for hundreds of years.  Even in Thailand, they've got a crappy attitude about Burmese, even tho the 2 countries haven't fought a war for over 200 yrs.   

[baboon]

6 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

http://www.charonqc.co.uk/2015/12/23/conversation-aijalon-gomes-conversation-aijalon-gomes-as-a-second-installment-in-the-conversation-series-for-charon-qc-we-convened-an-interview-with-aijalon-mahli-gomes-mr-gomes-is-the-ameri/

 

https://www.amazon.com/Violence-Humanity-Aijalon-M-G-ebook/dp/B00YFOH07S

 

 

Just purchased. This had better be good or you owe me £6.45...

Edited November 23, 2017 by baboon

[Kieran00001]

11 hours ago, lvr181 said:

Happy that he made it (don't see any 'escaping' from anywhere else to NK) and hope he recovers quickly.

Not as uncommon as you might imagine, quite a lot go back, escaping from the "free world" they once dreamed of.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/22/defector-wants-to-go-back-north-korea

 

[boomerangutang]

16 minutes ago, baboon said:

Just purchased. This had better be good or you owe me £6.45...

I also just purchased the e-book, ....inspired by hearing about it here on T.Visa 15 minutes ago.

 

[Kieran00001]

14 minutes ago, boomerangutang said:

You're right.  Any soldiers who cross the line, can be shot and killed by soldiers on the other side.  However, I doubt it would have escalated beyond a skirmish, unless vehicles or heavier weapons came into the equation.

 

It's really dumb, to keep the ding dong protocol going for decades.  Heck, Denmark and Norway went in together and built a bridge over the Skagerak.   The US and Canada jointly administer Glacier National Park.  Note, of the dozens of jointly administered parks and Heritage Centers in world, none are in Asia.   What is it about Asians and M.Easterners? .....who hold angry grudges for hundreds of years.  Even in Thailand, they've got a crappy attitude about Burmese, even tho the 2 countries haven't fought a war for over 200 yrs.   

 

"Note, of the dozens of jointly administered parks and Heritage Centers in world, none are in Asia."

 

You would like us to "note" your made up fact?

 

I know of at least two parks in Asia that are jointly managed, one between Bhutan and India and another between Pakistan and India.  Then there are the many transboundary conservation projects, such as in Borneo between Malaysia and Indonesia, and also here, between Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.  Another example would be PEMSEA.

[craigt3365]

20 minutes ago, Kieran00001 said:

 

"Note, of the dozens of jointly administered parks and Heritage Centers in world, none are in Asia."

 

You would like us to "note" your made up fact?

 

I know of at least two parks in Asia that are jointly managed, one between Bhutan and India and another between Pakistan and India.  Then there are the many transboundary conservation projects, such as in Borneo between Malaysia and Indonesia, and also here, between Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.  Another example would be PEMSEA.

Pakistan and India?  Seriously?  LOL

[Kieran00001]

7 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

Pakistan and India?  Seriously?  LOL

 

Sorry, Pakistan and China, it is Khunjerab Park.  They have been proposing one between Pakistan and India for a long time though, a glacial park, but as yet no go. 

Edited November 23, 2017 by Kieran00001