North Korean defector's dramatic escape latest chapter in 72-Hour Bridge's history
A North Korean soldier drives a military jeep across the 72-Hour Bridge that connects to the Join Security Area (JSA) in this surveillance camera footage released by the United Nations Command, Wednesday. / Yonhap
By Bahk Eun-ji
North Korea’s landmark 72-Hour Bridge played a pivotal role in a North Korean soldier’s daring escape to the South through the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) last week.
The United Nations Command this week released footage of the dramatic Nov. 13 defection. It shows the soldier driving a military Jeep across the 72-Hour Bridge that connects to the Joint Security Area (JSA), where North and South Korean soldiers face each other.
The bridge, on the Sacheon River, has a history of division of the North and South.
North Korea built it after the “axe murder” incident in August 1976, in which North Korean soldiers killed two U.S. Army officers with an axe in the JSA.
The bridge got its name from the fact North Korea built it in 72 hours. Before the axe murder incident, the Bridge of No Return crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) between the North and South. It was used for prisoner exchange at the end of the Korean War in 1953. Its name came from its role. Once prisoners crossed the bridge they were never allowed to return.
Of course, there were people who returned over the bridge. In January 1968, North Korea seized a U.S. Navy ship and its 83 crew. They were released in December that year and ordered to cross the Bridge of No Return to the South.
Before the axe murders, North and South Koreans had been allowed to pass in the JSA regardless of the MDL.