North Korean troops violated armistice in chasing defector: UN Command

A North Korean soldier runs toward the south side of the Joint Security Area (JSA) after getting out of a vehicle stuck along a row of JSA buildings in this surveillance camera footage released by the United Nations Command, Wednesday. / Courtesy of United Nations Command

KPA guards fired shots into south; one crossed MDL

By Jun Ji-hye

North Korean troops violated an armistice agreement last week when they were chasing a fellow soldier defecting to South Korea through the Joint Security Area (JSA) at the truce village of Panmunjeom, the United Nations Command (UNC) announced Wednesday.

Releasing video clips lasting around seven minutes showing the incident, the UNC said the (North) Korean People's Army (KPA) violated the Armistice Agreement twice when its border security guards fired weapons across the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) after the defector had entered the South and when one KPA soldier temporarily crossed the line for a few seconds.

The armistice, signed in July 27, 1953, brought a ceasefire to the 1950-53 Korean War.

The findings came after a UNC special team, comprised of personnel from Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and the United States, conducted an investigation from Nov. 13 to 20. Members from Sweden and Switzerland of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission also observed the process in accordance with due procedure, the UNC said.

"UNC personnel at the JSA notified the KPA of these violations today through a normal communications channel at Panmunjeom and requested a meeting to discuss the investigation results and measures to prevent future violations," the UNC said in a release.

On Nov. 13, a North Korean soldier ran across the MDL inside the JSA in an apparent bid to flee to the South.

According to the South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, around 40 gunshots were fired at the soldier from the North during the incident.

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The defector was hit five times and underwent surgery twice at Ajou University Hospital in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. He has recently regained consciousness and begun to speak, according to hospital officials.

Closed-circuit television footage the UNC released starts with the defector approaching in a vehicle across the 72-hour Bridge, with the CCTV timeline that reads "2017-11-13 15:11."

After the vehicle driven by the defector in a KPA uniform became stuck along a row of JSA buildings, he got out and ran south across the MDL.

While the defector was running south, four North Korean guards, armed with pistols and rifles, engaged him with direct fire, during which time some of the gunshots flew over the MDL, and one soldier briefly crossed the line before returning back to the north side of the JSA.

Separate footage from a thermal observation device showed two members of South Korea's JSA security battalion crawling along the ground to recover the wounded defector lying against a wall, while one member covered the retreat, prior to his evacuation for medical treatment.

The UNC said its investigation team determined JSA security battalion personnel took appropriate actions during the incident, which resulted in a "de-escalation of tension and no loss of life."

Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, the UNC commander, said "After thoroughly reviewing the investigation results, I assess the actions taken by the UNC security battalion were in a manner that is consistent with the Armistice Agreement, namely -- to respect the Demilitarized Zone and to take actions that deter a resumption of hostilities."

Gen. Brooks added: "The armistice agreement was challenged, but it remains in place."

The comments are expected to remove criticism to some extent over the South Korean military's failure to fire back while the North Korean soldiers were firing across the MDL.

Pyongyang declared the Armistice Agreement invalid in early 2013 and has cut off the hotline between the UNC and the KPA since then. This means that the UNC would have no realistic tool to deal with the North's violation of the agreement.

It also remains to be seen whether the North will respond to the UNC's request to hold a meeting to discuss the incident.

The National Intelligence Service and the Defense Security Command here plan to question the defector to find out his rank and background and the reasons for his defection once his condition stabilizes.

Dr. Lee Cook-jong who leads the medical team for the defector said it may take a month for the patient to be able to undergo questioning.

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