Silke Jasso
After dramatic video surfaced of a North Korean guard defecting across the border into South Korea, Kim Jong Un’s government has “replaced” nearly all of the soldiers who were stationed at the site where the escape took place Nov. 13, CNN reported.
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RELATED: Video shows soldiers firing at North Korean defector as he escaped
“North Korea replaced almost all of its troops, if not all, at the Joint Security Area for their failure to prevent the defection,” said Kim Young-woo, chairman of the South Korean National Assembly’s defense committee. “It was obviously a part of punishment for failing their mission to deter the North Korean soldier’s escape. North Korea has always punished those responsible for similar failures.”
— Marc Knapper (@MarcKnapper) November 23, 2017
North Korea, meanwhile, planted trees and dug a trench at a section of the Military Demarcation Line, according to Marc Knapper, the chargé d’affaires at the US Embassy in Seoul. Knapper tweeted a photo of dramatic video released by the United Nations Command on Wednesday. The video showed a North Korean soldier’s daring dash to freedom while being fired upon by his former comrades.
After the defector’s vehicle got stuck in a gutter close to the border, he jumped out and ran toward the South Korean side, CNN reported.
The 24-year-old soldier, known only by his last name — Oh — has regained consciousness after being shot and was undergoing treatment, CNN reported.
Oh is the third member of the North Korean armed forces to defect this year.
More than 40 bullets were fired at him from pistols and an AK-47 assault rifle, South Korea’s military said last week. South Korean troops did not return fire.
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Oh had lost more than 50 percent of his blood by the time he arrived by air at Ajou University Hospital, his surgeon Lee Cook Jong told reporters Wednesday.
