By Anna Fifield / The Washington Post
TOKYO — Dramatic footage of a North Korean soldier’s escape across the Demilitarized Zone last week shows the man making his break for freedom, including the moment that his compatriots run after him and start shooting in an effort to stop him.
The man, thought to be in his 20s, is still in critical condition in a South Korean hospital after being shot at least five times during his escape.
Closed-circuit television footage released Wednesday by the U.S.-run United Nations Command, which controls the southern part of the DMZ, showed the man making his escape.
The jeep that he drove is seen driving along a road in North Korea and across what is known as the “72-hour Bridge” before barreling through the Joint Security Area, the only part of the DMZ where North and South Korean soldiers face each other.
However, the jeep got stuck in a ditch and the soldier jumped out and started running toward the south. Four other North Korean soldiers are seen running toward him and stopping to shoot at him.
One of the North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the Military Demarcation Line that runs through the DMZ, marking the border, before returning to the north side of the JSA. This constitutes a violation of the armistice agreement that the two sides signed at the end of the Korean War in 1953.
The U.N. Command’s special investigation team found that the North Koreans violated the armistice agreement twice during the event by firing weapons across the MDL and when one North Korean soldier temporarily crossed the line.
“UNC personnel at the JSA notified (North’s Korean People’s Army) of these violations today through normal communications channel in Panmunjom and requested a meeting to discuss the investigation results and measures to prevent future such violations,” the U.N. Command said Wednesday.
Gen. Vincent Brooks, the commander of U.S. Forces in Korea and the head of U.N. Command, said the service members on the southern side “took appropriate actions” during the incident to de-escalate tensions and prevent anyone being killed.
“The armistice agreement was challenged, but it remains in place,” Brooks said.
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