North Korean soldier crosses border and surrenders after hearing about life in South Korea

By yckim124 Thursday, June 15, 2017 89,190 454 156

A North Korean soldier crossed over to South Korea after hearing about the life beyond the border.

On June 13, a North Korean soldier in his early 20s was caught crossing the MDL or Military Demarcation Line in Yeoncheon. The soldier, who is 175cm (5'7") in height and 52kg (114lbs) in weight, was identified to be a North Korean border patrol.

The soldier immediately raised his hands in the air and expressed his wish to surrender when spotted by the South Korean soldiers. He explained his strong wish to cross over to South Korea, and later further explained that his desires to do so grew stronger after listening to the stories by North Korean defectors aired through the South Korean loudspeaker broadcast aimed at the North.

The soldier revealed to have left the military base after telling fellow North Korean soldiers that he's going out to get some wood. It's also revealed that the soldier confirmed his decision to cross over after a huge fire spread across the Korean Demilitarized Zone in April; believing that numerous landmine traps must've been destroyed by the fire.

The North Korean, who was suffering from hunger and poor environmental conditions, is now given an opportunity to a brand new life in South Korea.

Buzz

shinyjonginnie • Saturday, June 17, 2017

175 cm and 52 kg?? That is so unhealthy. Heck I'm 172 cm and 53 kg and I'm a female.

KpopRox94 shinyjonginnie • Monday, June 26, 2017

Sadly, I am a male standing 183cm and weigh 55kg now. Its not because of malnutriution. I eat a lot but I just don't gain weight..

Sam_Rocky • Friday, June 16, 2017

Damn..... he's so malnourished :(Thank goodness he wasn't brought back.... they would've executed him for sure

SecondLeadQueen5 • Friday, June 16, 2017

114 pounds?! That broke my heart.

daphxxxiiiiiyg SecondLeadQueen5 • Saturday, June 17, 2017

sadly, NK has shortage of food but not as bad as the famine during 90s

junsukiyoo • Friday, June 16, 2017

Why in my head suddenly thinking that defector could be a spy? He was trained to be loyal and die for his country. Most of their soldiers do. If he indeed true choose to live freely in the south, he could be dead tho. Probably lots of NK spies hiding in South Korea and they will terminate all of the traitors. Okay, maybe i watched James Bond too much.

Skyepop junsukiyoo • Friday, June 16, 2017

Thats a risk SK has to take. They can't really turn a defector away, but at the same time he will probably not be given access to anything of value data wise.

daphxxxiiiiiyg junsukiyoo • Saturday, June 17, 2017

SK holds investigation if one NK defects to SK. There was an incident about a soldier like this too. But also heard that there might actually be spies in SK according to the intuition of some defectors

Skyepop daphxxxiiiiiyg • Saturday, June 17, 2017

Spies on both sides really wouldn't surprise me.

daphxxxiiiiiyg • Friday, June 16, 2017

Also, I heard that the family-relatives of a defector will be set into labor camp and cannot attend colleges anymore in NK. I pray for his family as well. He might have a hard time adjusting in SK and may have nightmares, I wish him all the best

Ameeeela daphxxxiiiiiyg • Friday, June 16, 2017

Maybe he has no family? Who knows... maybe he is even a spy?

daphxxxiiiiiyg Ameeeela • Saturday, June 17, 2017

all defectors will be investigated before proceeding a new life in SoKor but perhaps.. maybe, we may never know. Even defectors say that the people who sometimes they see in rallies, they have a feeling that they're North Koreans. Also, I doubt that he has no family. He is a soldier after all, his family was still probably alive (I'm assuming since soldiers tend to have"clean backgrounds" as well)

daphxxxiiiiiyg • Friday, June 16, 2017

This is nice. Thae yong ho was right. more defectors will come this year. Those speakers were helpful. I hope the Kim Jong Un regime will end soon

crystalCassie91 • Friday, June 16, 2017

I'm just wondering what is the point of concealing his name, and then giving us a detailed description of his features like weight, height, and age?

crowboy crystalCassie91 • Friday, June 16, 2017

To be fair, even the most detailed of descriptions are generally nothing to go by unless you're talking about seriously obvious and unique features (scars, etc.). But to be honest, I have no idea why any information of his appearance was given out anyway. Maybe just because people listening would be curious? Beats me

Ameeeela crystalCassie91 • Friday, June 16, 2017

Well,being that tall and weighting that little (as a man,that is really malnourished) maybe just shows how desperate he was to cross the border because the living conditions are bad in NK so they wanted to show that even soldiers who need to eat a lot to be fit are treated poorly

crystalCassie91 • Friday, June 16, 2017

I hope they treat him well and don't throw him in prison or make him go through some cruel investigation... He deserves a new free life... My heart goes out to all those trapped in that country and have no idea about life outside.. They don't even understand concepts we take for granted like "freedom" and "human rights"...

honeynaomi crystalCassie91 • Friday, June 16, 2017

They have to put them through investigation... in a way it's bad but for the country's safety it's necessary.. it won't necessary be cruel i think but it tends to be extremely long and in his case even more since he is a soldier. They also have to learn how to live a normal life

daphxxxiiiiiyg crystalCassie91 • Saturday, June 17, 2017

there is always an investigation though, just to be sure...

Istanhyejeong • Friday, June 16, 2017

It takes great courage to do something like that for a North Korean. They know that there's a possibility of not being accepted in the society or treated as a spy. Hope he can succesfully integrate into South Korea!

fantasticlau • Friday, June 16, 2017

Yes, he can be a spy, but that's SK's own law. If you're a North Korean, you're also a South Korean. All you need to do is to cross the border and *poof* a new life with the 6th most powerful passport in the world.

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