North Korean soldier crosses DMZ border to defect to South Korea

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

Just moments ago, it was reported that a North Korean soldier has crossed the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in an effort to defect to the South.

It is extremely rare for a defector to come straight across the DMZ as most come from China – the last time this happened was 2012. The four-kilometer wide area separating North and South Korea is known to be fortified with landmines and barbed wire. While the South Korean side has telephones for defectors to call for help from, the North Korean side supposedly has even more landmines planted in an effort to deter defections.

South Korean Defense Ministry officials revealed that the soldier approached a guard post in Gangwon province’s Hwacheon county at about 8am. The official continued, there were no warning shots fired as the soldier clearly expressed his desire to defect. Said soldier is currently being held in custody to run checks.

South Korea’s defense ministry has declined to confirm this report.

North Korean soldier walks across DMZ in bid to defect to South

A teenaged North Korean soldier walked across the world's most heavily militarised border on Monday in a bid to defect to South Korea, South Korean Defence Ministry officials said.

While there are more than a thousand defections from North Korea to South Korea every year, most defectors come via China and it is rare for a North Korean to crossing the heavily mined Demilitarised Zone (DMZ). The last such crossing was in 2012.

The soldier approached a remote South Korean guard post in Gangwon province's Hwacheon county, in the central area of the peninsula, at about 8 a.m. on Monday, one Defence Ministry official said.

There was no exchange of fire or warning shots as the soldier clearly expressed his desire to defect, the official said. The soldier was being held in custody while officials ran checks.

Stretching across the Korean peninsula, the DMZ is 4 kilometres (2.49 miles) wide and is fortified with landmines and barbed wire. There are telephones on the South Korean side for defectors from the North to call seeking help.

Yonhap News Agency reported that the North Korean military had been laying landmines along parts of the border this year, in an apparent move to prevent defections, citing a South Korean government official.

South Korean's defense ministry declined to confirm the report.

(Writing by Jack Kim; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

Koreaboo, Reuters

Comments

[adlyeith.livejournal.com]

I can't even imagine how terrifying that must be, feeling like every step could be your last one but pressing on anyway. The relief they must have felt when they finally reached South Korea, though.

[carra-mia.livejournal.com]

And the guy is still teenager;( I hope that his live seriously gonna be better now.

[adlyeith.livejournal.com]

Yeah no kidding. I hope he manages to have a happy and fulfilling life after this.

[chenetic.livejournal.com]

Landmines so they don't leave? That's sick.

[bomsnose.livejournal.com]

we used to have those in europe, too, not fun.
it's not at the border, but bosnia still has landmines. not sure about other continents.

[nefertitii.livejournal.com]

there are a lot in north africa - about 20 million in egypt's desert. left over from WWII. thanks it/ger/uk/france!!! leave us with this mess we have to clean up

[bomsnose.livejournal.com]

sad to hear that.

i only remember wwii bomb cleanups... every couple of months they'd send us home from school/work when they found bombs during construction work.

[velveteenkitten.livejournal.com]

Wow.
I have run out of words to express myself.
How scared he must've been.

[scheisse.livejournal.com]

A lot of people think that all North Koreans are brainwashed into loving their country and leader but this guy and the stat about 1,000 defectors a year shows that there are plenty of people completely aware of how atrocious their gov't is. I just can't imagine how scary it would be to try and defect in such a way.

[algaee.livejournal.com]

brave guy... defectors are super brave people. but i can't imagine how many more people there are in nk who want to leave but just can't
i'm glad he found safety and wish him a smooth transition into a new life

[nekokonneko.livejournal.com]

holy shit, i can't imagine living in a place so hellish and being so desperate to escape it that i'd risk being blown up by a landmine. i hope he has a better life in the south.

[baddiemey.livejournal.com]

There are no landlines where he crossed at all and his family is fucked with a capital "F".

[maishi-obuki.livejournal.com]

it really is brave.
Unfortunately any members of his family are almost 100% guaranteed to be rounded up and placed in prison for life because he defected.

[chibi-rei.livejournal.com]

That thought too is so chilling/scary because think how bad it must be for you to do that anyway.

[ah0000.livejournal.com]

Considering all the books I've read about NK this is so crazy to me. I'm actually reading Dear Leader right now, where he also goes the route of China. I can't even imagine what this is like. What a brave guy. I hope his family will be ok :/

[seroquels.livejournal.com]

I can't even begin to imagine what it must've been like, or how scared he must've been. I'm incredibly blessed to live where I live, and seeing things like this make me want to complain less about my own life.

I'm so happy that he made it, and I hope his life improves.

[myrrhcat.livejournal.com]

oh, the irony of the phrase "demilitarized zone." i'm glad he made it.

[honeebs.livejournal.com]

Brave, his future is 10 better already.
Now what fuckery will come out of NK this week or month, because of this public defector. If he has family may god be with them.

[baddiemey.livejournal.com]

All I can think is....his poor family.

[agoongprincess.livejournal.com]

i think his family is probably out of the picture already tbh. the boy walked over 2 miles in heavily mined area to find freedom in south korea, someone capable of doing that i doubt would willingly leave their family behind. he probably lost his family & defected in a last attempt to live a decent life.

[bomsnose.livejournal.com]

i'm just super lucky, that's all i can think of. we used to have something like this at the borders of my home country, too, work camps, etc... but it all went away while i was a kid.

let me use this comment section once more to encourage people to visit north korea. i'm saving up still. my parents and grandparents said they got the motivation to resist the soviet puppet state seeing tourists and smuggled western media.

i hope this guy can deal with at least some of the trauma...

[bubblyshades.livejournal.com]

can you rec me some books to read about NK? I want to educate myself.

[dorawa.livejournal.com]

I just finished "Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea" and I loved it. You should check it out.

[bubblyshades.livejournal.com]

thank you! just added it to my reading list

[pastelpinklace.livejournal.com]

Can you link me to their Tumblr?

[huanyia.livejournal.com]

that's very brave of him, as a teen he will definitely have a better life

[heyitsrocky91.livejournal.com]

his family is probably dead tbh :( but I hope he can have a good life in South Korea

[raksha38.livejournal.com]

Brave man! I wish him all the best and I'm hoping his family (if he has any) is already defecting through other channels.

[winegums.livejournal.com]

The courage he must have had, for him to risk his life like this..... I hope he's able to live a happier life after this. Poor kid is only a teenager. ...