Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Zackback]

http://news.yahoo.com/nkorean-soldier-defects-skorea-across-heavily-armed-border-075818506.html

NKorean soldier defects to SKorea across heavily armed border after killing 2 of his officers

SEOUL, South Korea - A North Korean soldier killed two of his officers Saturday and defected to South Korea across the countries' heavily armed border in a rare crossing that prompted South Korean troops to immediately beef up their border patrol, officials said.

The soldier shot his platoon and company commanders before crossing the western side of the Demilitarized Zone at around noon, a Defence Ministry official said, citing the soldier's statement after he was taken into custody by South Korean border guards.

The official declined to be named because questioning by authorities was ongoing. He said the soldier used a loudspeaker to let South Korean border guards know his intention to defect after the killings. The official said the motive behind the defection was unclear.

No unusual military movement was detected from the North Korean side of the border after the crossing, but South Korea immediately instructed its border troops to step up their guard, a South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff official said. He also declined to be named, citing office rules.

There was no immediate comment from communist North Korea's state-run media.

Defections across the land border are rare, though North Koreans occasionally come to the South by boat. Last year, a North Korean civilian defected to the South across the land border. The last defection across the Demilitarized Zone by a North Korean soldier occurred in 2010, officials said. Another soldier and an officer also defected to the South across the border in two separate crossings in 2008.

The vast majority of North Koreans fleeing their homeland travel through China and Southeast Asia before arriving in the South.

More than 24,000 North Koreans have arrived in the South since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.

The area where Saturday's defection took place is along the route to a South Korean-financed industrial complex in the North Korean border town of Kaesong, officials said.

Border security has been tighter than usual along the border in the past few years as military and political tensions between the rival Koreas soared. In 2010, a South Korean naval ship sank and 46 of its sailors died in an incident blamed on North Korea, though Pyongyang denies involvement. Later that year, North Korea bombarded a South Korean front-line island, killing two marines and two civilians.

[Stan Rogers]

It pretty clear he didn't like those two officers very much and he didn't want to be in the army anymore either.

Korea is probably the only country on earth where a soldier can kill two superior officers and then run a few hundred meters and get away with it.

[young_clinton]

[Zackback]

Will anything happen to his family members (assuming he has any) still in the North?

and

The North won't demand his return by claiming he is a war criminal.....will they?

[sulkoudai]

i dont get it...

at noon, 2 enlisted men killed 2 of their commanding officers and ran away?

unless the defectors are like ninjas, HOW THE HELL DID THEY DO THAT?

HAHAHA.

Unless there was a miracle, doesn't that mean that there were only 4 military personnel guarding that part of the boarder? I don't think any other officers or enlisted men would help them escape unless they want to escape with them...


On a more serious note, they would be a good source of intel for South Korea.

[newb]

[Otherside]

[Stan Rogers]

Upon closer examination of the reports, the shootings are only what the North Korean claims he did. There is no way to verify anything other than the fact that he crossed the DMZ.

[newb]

Korean news reports that the Korean OP observed two NK sodliers lying on the ground after hearing 6 gun shots. The incident occurred only less than 1km away from the OP.

[Steelrails]

Motive is key here. Anything not involving political oppression/harm to family members as motive should be cause to send them back.

For all we know this could have been little more than murder for profit or a personal grievance. You can't be accepting soldiers who kill their officers for no reason as political defectors.

[Swampfox10mm]

This could be many things. He also could have been a SK plant, and this is how he escaped. Or he could even be a NK spy, and this is how they chose to send him in.

In any case, you can be certain this guy will be watched like a hawk in SK.

I'd like to add that I took the tour of the DMZ, and was amazed by how many "repairs" there were to the fence -- as in covering over man-sized holes cut in it. You see them all over. I asked the US troop guiding our bus, and he refused to comment on it, stating that he couldn't talk about that.

I think an awful lot more sneaking back and forth goes on than the general public of either nation realizes.

[thurst]

[orosee]

[young_clinton]

[Stan Rogers]