Under a hail of bullets and chased by his compatriots, the breakaway North Korean soldier made a 50-meter dash for freedom on the other side of the border with South Korea, as seen in security camera footage released by the United Nations Command.

Based on an analysis of CCTV footage and satellite images, the North Korean solider is thought to have run more than 50 meters toward the South Korean side before he made it to a building next to the Freedom House inside the South-controlled Joint Security Area in the Demilitarized Zone.

His run came after his jeep became stuck in a ditch north of the Military Demarcation Line, the de facto border between the two Koreas. Based on CCTV analysis, the solider appeared to be driving his vehicle at about 70 kilometers per hour before he was forced to abandon it. 

“After talking to the (North Korean soldier), I realized he came here voluntarily and was attracted to what he viewed as a positive image of South Korea,” his doctor Lee Cook-jong, who treated the wounded solider, said during a press briefing.

The soldier, who has regained consciousness after two recent surgeries, sustained five gunshot wounds from the four North Korea soldiers who gave chase. CCTV footage showed one of them firing aimed shots from a prone position even after the defector had made it across the border.

By Yeo Jun-suk(jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)