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Dr. Lee Guk-jong speaks on Nov. 14 at the Ajou University Hospital in Suwon regarding the status of the North Korean soldier who was shot while defecting across the JSA. The soldier remains on life support following surgery. (Yonhap News)
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The soldier was shot five times as he crossed through the JSA at Panmunjeom
A North Korean soldier who defected through the Joint Security Area (JSA) at Panmunjeom on Nov. 18 originally attempted to cross south in a military jeep. Details also emerged of a hair-trigger situation as the North Korean military fired some 40 rounds with handguns and AK assault rifles. “Initial surgery was carried out [on the defector] between 5:30 pm and 11:03 pm yesterday at Ajou University Hospital in Suwon, and five handgun and Ak-47 bullets were removed,” a Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) official said at a Nov. 14 press briefing. The armistice agreement forbids the carrying of automatic weapons besides pistols at the JSA in Panmunjeom. The defecting North Korean soldier suffered gunshot damage to seven organs and is currently breathing on a life-support system. “The next ten days are going to be a continued test. The damaged organs have been severely contaminated with feces and had to be forcibly sutured,” explained Ajou University Hospital professor Lee Guk-jong, who performed the surgery. “Due to the severe organ contamination and bleeding, the wounds have not healed very well. This is not a stage to make any hasty pronouncements that his life is not in danger,” Lee said, adding that a “decision on the second round of surgery will be made tomorrow or the day after tomorrow after viewing the progress.” The incident began at 3:14 pm the day before, when three North Korean soldiers were seen running from east to west along a road in front of Panmungak on the North Korean side of Panmunjeom. “One minute later at 3:15, a military jeep traveling south came to a stop in a drainage ditch 10 meters north of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), at which point a North Korean soldier leapt out of the jeep and began running south,” a JCS official explained. “The three North Korean soldiers who had been running in front of Panmungak and one who emerged from a nearby guard post followed after him and fired 40 rounds with pistols and AK assault rifles,” the official added. “It all happened in an instant.” During a National Assembly National Defense Committee meeting the same day, Liberty Korea Party lawmaker Chung Jin-suk asked why the South Korean military “made no response when North Korean military cartridges are reported to have fallen on our side.” In response, JCS operational headquarters chief Seo Wook explained that the UN Command rules of engagement “instruct us to respond after determining first whether the situation jeopardizes our forces, and second whether there is a risk of exacerbating the crisis.” “At the time, the shooting was confined to the North Korean soldier. The situation was not a threat to our forces,” Seo said. A JCS official added that “evidence of damage on South Korean territory by North Korean military rounds has not been confirmed.” The defecting North Korean soldier was found injured 16 minutes later at 3:31 pm by South Korean forces 50 meters south of the MDL. “He was lying in fallen leaves and was difficult to see unaided. His presence was confirmed with TOD thermal camera,” a JCS official said. Twenty-five minutes after the injured soldier was located, he was approached at 3:56 by three South Korean soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel and guard captain, who crawled toward him and then removed him to safety behind the Freedom House building. “It was a critical situation with troop movements detected at the North Korean rear,” a JCS official provided as the reason the rescue was not attempted sooner. “We also needed time to assess the situation and establish a response posture,” the official added. The injured soldier was immediately driven to Camp Bonifas, then transported to Ajou University Hospital in Suwon by a UN Command UH-60 helicopter. The incident was first reported to the JCS at 3:33 pm, 18 minutes after the gunfire was heard from North Korean troops. “Reports on emergency situations are supposed to be delivered within 15 minutes, and we did not observe that,” Seo admitted in response to criticisms of the “belated response” at the National Assembly National Defense Committee. “It appears that it took some time to assess the situation on the ground and take action,” he explained. The incident was reported to Minister of National Defense Song Young-mu at 4:25 pm, an hour and 10 minutes after it occurred. “The Minister was attending a National Assembly Special Committee on Budget and Accounts meeting at the time,” Seo explained. “The delay in reporting was an error by the working-level staff, including myself,” he added. By Park Byong-su, senior staff writer and Kim Gi-seong, South Gyeonggi correspondent Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
