North Korean soldiers violated the armistice agreement between North and South Korea as they fired across the line that divides the two countries in pursuit of a defector last week, the UN says.
The United Nations Command in South Korea played dramatic security footage of the soldier’s brazen defection across the heavily fortified demilitarized zone (DMZ) at a news conference on Wednesday. It showed the soldier running across the border as North Korean soldiers shot at him and South Korean troops later crawling to rescue him.
As well as firing across the border, one North Korea soldier crossed the military demarcation line (MDL) — another violation of the armistice that paused the Korean War in 1953 — said Col. Chad Carroll, US Forces Korea public affairs director. A peace treaty formally ending the war has never been signed.
Carroll said that the UN Command had notified the North Korean People’s Army of the violations via regular communication channels and requested a meeting to discuss the results of the UN investigation into the incident as well as measures to prevent future such violations.
“The armistice agreement was challenged, but it remains in place,” Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, the American who leads the UN Command.
The 24-year-old soldier, surnamed Oh, has regained consciousness and is undergoing further treatment,the hospital treating him said Wednesday. He’s been listening to K-pop group Girls Generation and watching US and South Korean TV shows, the hospital said.
Oh, whose rank has not been revealed, is the third member of the North Korean armed forces to defect this year although it’s the first time the UN Command has released video footage of a defection, a spokesperson said.
According to a document from the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, North Korea has been accused of violating the armistice thousands of times since 1953.
What was shown
The security footage released by the UN Command begins at 3:11 p.m. local time on November 13, with a wide shot of a military vehicle speeding down a tree-lined street on the North Korean side of the DMZ.
It moves past a North Korean guard post ahead of the bridge at 3:13 p.m.
What appears to be a soldier exits the building as the vehicle rushes past. Moments later, the vehicle crosses a bridge.
It then approaches a monument to North Korea’s founding father, Kim Il Sung, the starting point for North Korean tours of the Joint Security Area. Carroll said there were no tour groups on either side of the DMZ when the defection occurred.
The driver turns right at the monument, just steps away from South Korea. It’s still 3:13 p.m. Under the cover of trees, the vehicle appears to stop.
At 3:14 p.m., North Korean soldiers run toward the vehicle from an adjacent guard tower and from the steps at Panmungak, the main building on the North Korean side of the JSA.
The video then shows the defecting soldier getting out from the driver’s side of the vehicle and starting to run.
Four North Korean soldiers appear in frame near the vehicle. One falls to the ground, though it’s unclear why. Another appears to fire his gun.
One North Korean soldier then briefly crosses the MDL.
At 3:43 p.m., Col. Carroll says the video shows the defecting soldier lying against a retaining wall in a pile of leaves on the South Korean side of the DMZ.
It’s another 12-minute jump to the following clip. It shows heat signatures of the wounded defector and three soldiers who are tasked with recovering him. More forces were in the area, Carroll said, but only three went to his immediate vicinity.
Two people — non-commissioned officers according to Carroll — crawl on the ground and make their way to the injured North Korean while another, who Carroll says is the South Korean JSA deputy battalion commander, stands guard.
K-pop at the hospital
More than 40 bullets were fired at him, from pistols and an AK-47, South Korea’s military said last week. South Korean troops did not return fire.
Oh, who was shot five times and underwent multiple surgeries, lost more than 50% of his blood by the time he arrived by air at Ajou University Hospital, his surgeon Lee Cook-jong said in a separate news conference Wednesday.
During treatment, Oh was given four pints of blood and multiple surgeries.
At one point, doctors considered amputating his left arm due to nerve damage. His intestines and motor functions are permanently damage also permanently damaged.
Though he stabilized Sunday afternoon after his breathing tube was removed, Oh was still in considerable pain, Lee said.
But he has regained consciousness and is now in “great” condition, Lee said.
“It’s only in the movies where a patient would gain consciousness right after a surgery and walk away. It’s not like that in reality,” said Lee.
The defector was also found to have dozens of parasites, some as long as 27 centimeters, in his ruptured intestines, which may be reflective of poor nutrition and health in North Korea’s military.
When speaking to reporters, Lee said he felt Oh had come to South Korea of his own free will.
The surgeon said he’s talked to his patient “a lot,” speaking mostly about music. Oh been listening to K-pop and watching South Korean and American movies and television. Oh has particularly enjoyed “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” Lee said.
