Dramatic Footage of Defector's Escape Released

North Korean soldier runs for his life as former comrades open fire
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 22, 2017 4:41 AM CST
Updated Nov 22, 2017 6:15 AM CST

Dramatic video of a North Korean soldier defecting across the DMZ last week reveals just how narrow the man's escape was. The soldier can be seen fleeing in a military vehicle, which races toward the border down empty roads. The defector is seen abandoning the vehicle after it becomes stuck just yards from the border at the Panmunjon truce village, the BBC reports. He ends up running for his life with North Korean soldiers firing their weapons just behind him. He was hit at least four times but survived.

Video released by the United Nations Command in Seoul also contains infrared footage of South Korean soldiers dragging the wounded soldier to safety, Reuters reports. A UNC official says North Korea has been informed that its Korean People's Army soldiers violated the 1953 armistice agreement by crossing the Military Demarcation Line between the two Koreas. "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," says UNC spokesman Chad Carroll. (The 24-year-old soldier has regained consciousness and has been watching TV.)

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