North Korean Soldier Defects Through DMZ, and Gunfire Erupts<br />HONG KONG — A North Korean soldier defected to South Korea on Thursday through the heavily guarded demilitarized zone<br />separating the two countries, leading to gunfire on both sides of the border, the South Korean military said.<br />South Korean soldiers later fired 20 warning shots at North Korean border guards who were searching for the<br />defector, which was followed 40 minutes later by gunfire in the North, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.<br />The “low ranking” soldier was manning a guard post along the DMZ when he fled<br />through thick fog, the South Korean military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.<br />In that case, South Korean border guards who heard the gunshots found the soldier 55 yards from the border line<br />that bisects Panmunjom, the so-called truce village in the Joint Security Area, and carried him to safety.<br />South Korean officials have recently held out the possibility<br />that they might be willing to push back the timing of planned joint military exercises with the United States to reduce tensions.<br />However, all this depends on how North Korea behaves.”<br />China and Russia have proposed a “freeze for freeze” agreement in which North Korea would halt its nuclear<br />and missile tests in return for a halt to the military exercises<br />“It is possible for South Korea and the U. S. to review the possibility of postponing the exercises,” he said.
