[Yonhap Photo]
A North Korean soldier suffered a gunshot wound as he defected to South Korea through a joint security area around a border truce village, but no cross-border gunfight was reported, according to military authorities.
The soldier from a North Korean guard post defected to the southern side of the Joint Security Area (JSA) on Monday in the demilitarized zone (DMZ), which bisects the Korean peninsula, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, adding the defector suffered a gunshot wound to his arm and soldier.
The defection took place at 3:31 pm (0631 GMT), and the soldier wearing a low-grade military uniform was found bleeding in an area controlled by American and South Korean troops, about 50 meters south of the borderline, the JCS said. A helicopter took him to a hospital for treatment, it said, adding the soldier was unarmed when he was found.
The rare defection, which came amid high tensions caused by Pyongyang's missile and nuclear tests, prompted North Korean border guards to open fire, but it did not escalate into a cross-border exchange of shooting, the JCS said.
The border truce village of Panmunjom has been inside a buffer zone jointly guarded by North Korean and American troops since an armistice was signed to end the 1950-53 Korean War. Under the supervision of U.S. troops, South Korean soldiers stand guard in a face-to-face standoff with North Korean border guards.
Despite tight border control and surveillance, North Koreans have escaped their hometowns in the North. There have been occasional defections through the DMZ dotted with landmines, electric fences, concrete walls and the heavy presence of border guards.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
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