North Korean soldier defects.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42076543

A pursuing North Korean soldier violated the 1953 Armistice by crossing into South Korea before realizing what he'd done and turning around. These pursuing North Korean soldiers initiated hostile military action within the village, another breech of the Armistice. Several of the rounds fired crossed the DMZ into the South Korean zone, again, a breech of the Armistice.

I suspect the UN Command is putting this out to forestall any attempt by the North to demand the return or claims that the defector was kidnapped. But, still, the last major incident in the area was 40 years ago.

By "last major incident", are you referring to when there was a row about cutting down a tree?

That was fairly pathetic for all concerned.

CNN (there's a TV in the cafeteria) had a doctor on saying the defector had some horrible disease or other.
Bio warfare?

Parasites, from what I understand.

That is pretty intense, wow

Good for him for getting out of that unimaginable shithole

You mean when they beat the two Americans to death? They weren't even cutting the trees down. The Americans were supervising a group of South Koreans simply trimming the two trees.

After the murders the U.S. sent in a substantial armed force (including B-52s not far away) and simply cut both of the damned trees down.
A "FUCK YOU!" to the Norks. Still doesn't make up for the deaths of our men.

Amen to that. I kept chanting "run, goddammit!" and was glad to see South Korean soldiers pulling him to safety.

Shot several times and survived? What were the NK soldiers using, BB guns? "You'll put your eye out with that thing!"
Yeah that is cool it was caught on video. Sadly, the average NK citizen will never, ever, ever see the same footage that we are seeing.
I hope the defector doesn't have any family left behind in NK because they are being tortured with extreme enthusiasm as we speak.

That reminded me of Sokar, and how he called anyone on the left parasites.
He really thought that was top tier humor.

I always laughed to myself, because 1. conservatives like him idolize the rich, and they feast off socialist welfare more than anyone, and don't bat an eye at their own rampaging hypocrisy 2. actual literal parasites are the most successful organisms on the planet.

Some of the parasites removed were as long as 27 centimeters (more than 10 inches), according to the South Korean doctors who treated him. One type of worm they discovered is typically found in dogs.

Sokar lives!

A row? North Korean soldiers crossed the Bridge of No Return and bludgeoned and hacked two unarmed US Army officers to death with axes that Korean civilians had been using to prune a tree. That's hardly a "row."

I've been to the DMZ twice - I saw the stump of that tree in a display case. I've walked around that table where they have the "peace talks" thus actually being in NK for a few seconds with NK guards staring at me. When I was stationed there (two separate tours) we had a NK pilot defect and land at a USAF base and ask to be taken to Burger King. Also had a NK "mini-sub" full of special forces land on a beach but an alert SK cab driver spotted them and alerted the authorities. The special forces took off into the hills on their way inland, toward Seoul. Yada yada yada the SK army and US army hunted them down & killed them before they could cause any real harm.

He apparently had several laege paracitic worms in his gut. A sign of just how poor of health the North Korean military is.

I have also been there twice.

I really hope this guy didn't have any family.

Even his close friends and co-workers are likely suffering for what he did.

so son said he read on-line where the guards got transferred. I'm sure Kim's version is "they got taken to a big farm in the country where they can run & play with the other other guards who gave their best efforts but failed."

I read on Wikipedia that there were two shots heard coming from the main building on the North Korean side a few hours after the previous defection. The North Korean Guard Company CO and XO weren't seen again.

When they fire somebody, it's literal!

Question is did this guy defect or did the worms make him do it?

"We need more food! Send the Head South signal to the brain!"

You’ve got to imagine the guards are wondering if they should also defect as soon as the first guy gets away.

If I didn't want to defect I'd have jumped that wall and shot the defector even if it meant my death. Those guards had to know what was going to happen to them and their families the moment it was realized this defector was alive and in South Korea. If I killed the defector and still died at least the state would make a state hero out of me for propaganda purposes. My family would probably be okay and my fellow soldiers would be okay probably. CO and XO would probably still be shot.

Those guards were running after that man as much to save their lives as it was to stop him but they are probably in the same sorry physical state he's in. He's 5' 7" and weighs 132 pounds.

That's not a solider. That's a kid! But he's in his mid-twenties and is the North Korean version of a army staff sergeant. Incredible.

I read on Wikipedia the North Korea has families standing guard on the border with China and has told the families that three generations would be wiped out if they let anyone get by them. And any defectors caught would be shot right there on the border and of course their families would be royally fucked.

It's the fear holding them back. Fear of what will happen to their families, friends, and fellow workers. North Korea is like the Dominion in Star Trek. They shoot your whole family. If you really piss them off they shoot the whole city.

They are digging trenches and planting trees where this guy ran.

http://abcnews.go.com/International...defector-crossed-dmz-border/story?id=51361113

I remember a program regarding some of the interesting tidbits about Panmunjom. The North Korean guards are in pairs and remain staring directly at each other. If one glances toward the South Korean side his counterpart is supposed to shoot him dead in case he is contemplating defection.

The South Koreans stand in a martial arts stance.

The Americans there wear lightweight, short sleeved summer uniforms even in subfreezing temperatures and stare straight across directly at the North Koreans continually. The South Koreans and Americans stationed are often the biggest, most bulked up soldiers to provide even greater contrast to the often gaunt looking ill fed North Koreans.

Fertilizing your crops with human waste is not a good idea.

The NK guards are the tallest, strongest looking ones they can find. Gaunt ill fed guards aren't very intimidating. Yes the US DMZ guards do have a size requirement - I can't speak for the South Koreans but most likely they do too. It's a spooky feeling going into NK even if it's part of an organized tour. You can't do anything provocative or hostile of course. But I still think it would be cool to carry a Burger King Whopper in your pocket, take it and eat one bite while staring at a NK guard - then throw the burger down because it's not up to your standards.

that would be one Myth Busters I could go without seeing.

He's the last guy to get that deal.

Some additional footage has surfaced of this escape