News is reporting that three North Koreans were attacked—by North Korean troops—as they attempted to defect through the western section of the DMZ this afternoon.
Two were shot dead, while one made it safely to South Korea.
The Joint Chiefs will tell us more shortly.
(HT to Steve Herman)
{ 47 comments… read them below or add one }
There seems to be a bit of a confusion among the Korean news media. I see one article claiming it was 3 defectors with 2 shot dead by the North Koreans, and I see another article claiming it was one defector who defected after killing a lieutenant and a captain (again, 2 shot dead).
Better the latter. Let’s hope it was. The defector must be a soldier.
Jeffery Hodges
* * *
Everything I am seeing now says that a soldier shot two of his superiors and then defected across the DMZ
Way to go, brother!
Freedom is a wonderful thing, consider that his/ her true motives are, as yet, still an unknown. Consider the above quick congratulations for the individual’s successful defection. People focus on the idea of an escape from oppressive conditions, yet it’s entirely possible that the deaths were the result of something personal, which then motivated him / her to defect.
…but consider…
Also consider that the defector has probably condemned his entire extended family to death. Silver clouds often have a black lining where the DPRK is concerned.
Korean news reports the NK soldier killed his platoon and squad leaders, threw away his gun, ran towards the South Korean soldiers who were about 500 meters away, then surrendered, announcing his intent to defect. This isn’t the first time NK soldiers at the DMZ has defected to the south.
Now he killed a whole platoon?? Freakin awesome: he must be John Rambo!
hoju_saram,
or maybe he didn’t have much of a family to leave behind. Maybe his family was already in the dumps.
Maybe this soldier just snapped for whatever reason. Soldiers with psychological issues, nothing new there.
#9
no, he didn’t killed the entire platoon.
Hey Munhwa Ilbo,
Why you gotta go and delete the entire article? Tale-between-your-legs journalism never looked so bad.
I wonder how the KCNA will spin this.
They might say that South Korean soldiers shot two NK soldiers and took one prisoner.
(Wouldn’t that be tantamount to a declaration of war by South Korea?)
I find it odd, and positively so, that humans are still able to make it through the DMZ on foot, but being a soldier there no doubt allows for some perks.
#12 ‘Tale Between Your Legs’ – couldn’t that prompt a….lengthy discussion?
Everything has consequences and the blows still must be dodged by someone.
It is a pity that anyone has to be killed.
I always assumed the DPRK only stationed their most trusted soldiers at the DMZ.
Maybe his superiors mistreated him too much.
or maybe he was in trouble anyway – similar to Joe Dresnok who was supposed to be court martialed and escaped through the DMZ over to the North – just to avoid being punished by his superiors.
Whatever his reason, it’s good to hear he took out two of his superiors, but sad to think that his family will be punished for it.
Why was the news put up and then taken down so quickly?
http://www.munhwa.com/news/view.html?no=20121006MW140115491671&w=nv
Don’t rule out the other possibility, the two leaders (dupes) were sacrficed to get a trusted agent into the South for other than good motives, been done before.
Sounds even more hardcore than DeNiro gaining 80 lbs. for Raging Bull.
Wouldn’t it have just made more sense for those guys to simply play dead? Talk about sacrificing one’s self for the performance. It was the role of a lifetime, one they were just dying to play.
…still I have to think that even in North Korea that blood (though less so than real bullets) is a big expense.
whoa, pretty shocking news
20, the ROK troops heard shots; they didn’t see anyone killed. That makes the mole theory even more possible.
Aliens. Need I say more?
Not a very likely mole. Not as if they’re gonna be giving classified intel to an infantryman they know came over from the other side. Best he could hope to do is give some pointless disinformation.
Why would you narrow down this guys purpose to only giving missinformation or collecting classified information? There are other reasons to plant agents that those.
Also, what has changed that makes NORK blood more valuable than it was say 10 or 12 years ago? Were the bodies of the two dead men collected and confirmed? What if both men had, oh say cancer or something else that would significantly shorten their life span and this was a way to honor their dear leader and provide for their family? Or what if they weren’t really dead? Byt I guess that since he is from the North he would be less inclined to do damage in the ROK than the evil Japanese, after all he just wants what every well indoctrinated NoRK wants, a hot meal, a Samsung big screen TV, and a cell phone.
23 Adams-awry> And aliens, well yes he was an illegal alien so what your point?
How is he an illegal alien?
Indeed as South Korea doesn’t recognise North Korea, is he even an alien under SoKo law?
“Not as if they’re gonna be giving classified intel to an infantryman they know came over from the other side.”
How do we know he’s really an infantryman? Maybe there was something very specific about that part of the Korean lines they wanted to know about and in six months he’ll be emailing it to someone?
I mean it’s very unlikely he’s a spy but unfortunately defectors have to be treated with suspicion.
They saw two North Korean soldiers lying on the ground – motionless.
Must have been good actors – maybe used some ketchup for special effects?
Arghaeri> Well he certainly wasn’t not of this world so what other kind alien could he have been? Ok maybe not illegal but one could probably argue he did not enter legally which in turn would make him illegal.
So Jakgani they say blood now? How hard is it for someone to lay down on the ground and be motionless?
Why does anyone automatically assume that this supposed infantry man has to be a spy sent to gather intel or disseminate false information? There are other things that he could have been sent to do such as deliver messages to sleeper cells just to name one.
He’ll have to be sent back to North Korea.
Hmmm… had a hard day?
Nobody said “blood”.
Nobody said “he was a spy sent to gather intel or disseminate false information”.
But you said ” he could have been sent to do such as deliver messages to sleeper cells just to name one”.
Hmm.. you seem to know a lot about him?
So Jakgani by saying “Must have been good actors – maybe used some ketchup for special effects?” you weren’t inferring blood? Why else would they use ketchup, was he going to eat them and got interrupted?
Having a hard day? No, just wanted to see who I could spin up with a conspiracy theory that didn’t deal with Japan, the Republican Party, or Kpop. Don’t need to know him to make the jump, it has happened before and it will probably happen again.
On your other comment, I forgot everything here has to be a direct quote, you can’t read someone elses comment(s) and not respond without using said direct quote.
Nork sleeper cells can’t use phones/the Interweb? The only way they can receive information is through other agents executing elaborate infiltration schemes. Jeez, I gotta root for the poor bastards based purely on the adversity they face.
Of course they could if you really believe that big brother isn’t monitoring your email and phones. Do you really think that Koreas intelligence gatherers are that technologically backward? Look at the number of cross-border defections that have occured in say the last 10 years, by cross-border I am referring to the DMZ itself not by ocean means, not very many successful ones.
Hacker, don’t pay any mind to Jakgani. He has repeatedly stated that he only says what he does on this blog to get a rise out of people. Don’t let him stir the pot.
Now, as to the North Korean government’s approach: I would expect Pyongyang to demand vociferously to Seoul that this man be handed back to stand trial for killing 2 loyal KPA officers. Seoul will no doubt not comply with this request. This could ratchet up tensions in the lead-up to SK’s December elections.
Hamel?? Hacker admitted to stirring the pot.
Nothing I wrote was stirring the pot.
Loser.
got a new friend now Hamel…
hope you and Hacker do well together – who is the bottom?
Jakgani – I inferred that I was bored and added a little fuel to the fire. Why bring me into your little sqaubble with Hamel? I only replied directly to what you wrote and nothing I wrote was derogatory to you in any way. Having said that, you just a bit homophobic? I couldn’t help your reference to “who is the bottom?” making it a somewhat personal attack when I responded to your posts in a polite non-confrontational way. Real “grownup” of you though.
sorry Hacker.
I actually liked what you had written on here – very similar to what I do “just adding fuel to the fire”.
I was actually surprised to find someone using the same style that I do on here – I just had to see if it was real – so I was also just testing you – but I like your style.
Sorry, for pulling you into my squabble with Hamel – but I think he is very like the Australia “Alan Jones” a closested H*********** who blames everyone for all problems – because he hasn’t gotten over his own problems.
and no – I am not homophobic at all, I like gay people a lot (except bossy Lesbians).
keep up the good “adding fuel to the fire” work.
It’s also why I was surprised by what Hamel wrote – he wasn’t smart enough to realize you were doing the same thing I do.
BTW Hamel, if you want people to read and listen to you, you might as well, cut the first paragraph of dribble out.
people start reading what you wrote, quickly realize that you are just bullying people around (me in this case) and tune out – people don’t even bother to read your second paragraph where you wrote about your election predictions and what Pyongyang will do.
If you are going to write dribble, leave it to your very last sentence like pawi does. Then people may actually read what you wrote.
Sorry to interrupt the rambling Jakgani soliloquy but the defection has been confirmed in this Korea Herald article.
Carry on with the conspiracy theories. I’m waiting for the Jason Bourne angle.
hamel, this happened before as well. North Korea won’t do anything.
TheKorean2: When did a North Korean shoot his superior officers and run across the MDL into South Korean hands? Defections happen, and sometimes North Korea chooses to make a fuss over it (like in Hwang Jang-yeop’s case), sometimes not.
I think in this case they could (to some extent justifiably) claim that this soldier needs to stand trial in North Korea for killing two North Koreans. And if they take into account the political dividends from doing so, it could help them to influence the South Korean election in the way they want it to go.
dribble =/= drivel
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