South Korean guards fire at North Koreans chasing defecting soldier

By Bahk Eun-ji

A group of North Korean soldiers retreated after South Korean guards fired warning shots in the central-western part of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the four-kilometer-wide inter-Korean border, Thursday morning.

The North Korean soldiers were likely searching for a soldier who defected to the South at 8:04 a.m. The South Korean guards fired 20 rounds from their K-3 machine guns at the soldiers.

It is not clear whether the North Koreans fired back but no casualties were reported.

The ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said a northern soldier defected and was in custody.

The incident came a month after a North Korean soldier’s dramatic defection at the truce village of Panmunjeom. North Korean guards shot the soldier several times as he escaped. He has since recovered.

Meanwhile, the Unification Ministry said two North Koreans defected by fishing boat to the South on Wednesday.

A P-3C naval patrol aircraft found the boat 100 kilometers northeast of the Dokdo islets at 11:30 a.m. The coast guard rescued them at 3:04 p.m.

Fifteen North Koreans have defected to South Korea this year. Four were soldiers.