South Korean troops find wounded North Korean on their side of the heavily fortified demilitarised zone.
South Korean forces are on high alert for possible provocations after a North Korean soldier was shot and wounded by his comrades as he defected across the demilitarised zone.
The rare defection occurred on Monday along the Joint Security Area (JSA) that is policed by both the South and North’s militaries, with soldiers staring each other down face-to-face at the heavily fortified border that divides the Koreas.
Gunfire rang out and South Korean troops found the bleeding North Korean soldier – dressed in a combat uniform but unarmed – on their side and he was taken by helicopter to a nearby hospital for treatment.
The South’s soldiers did not return fire.
The Korea Joongang Daily reported the North Korean was shot in the shoulder and elbow. His condition remains unknown.
“In the afternoon today, a North Korean soldier defected from a guard post on the North Korean side of the JSA toward our side and our military took him,” the Yonhap news agency quoted an unidentified military official as saying.
