North Korean soldier runs through 800k live landmines to escape army duty
The squaddie made a daring escape through the heavily-fortified Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea, dodging more than 800,000 landmines and barbed wire
The soldier dodged more than 800,000 mines to make the crossing (Image: Getty Images)
A North Korean soldier made a bold escape from his native country and crossed the border into the South, dodging more than 800,000 land mines and barbed wire fences.
The unnamed defector reportedly made the crossing on Tuesday (June 23), and was taken into custody by South Korean officials, according to a statement by the country’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
In a statement published via the country’s Yonhap news agency, officials said that they had “”secured custody of one North Korean soldier in the central front Tuesday night and relevant authorities are currently investigating the details”.
The border, known as the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea, is one of the most heavily fortified in the world, with the North Korean side especially containing a maze of minefields and numerous barbed wire fences in order to prevent safe passage between the two countries.
Estimates put the total number of landmines placed by both the North and South across the DMZ to be between 800,000 and 2 million, with boulders, walls and other obstacles also placed throughout the crossing to make passing through it as difficult as possible.
The DMZ, which measures at around 250km long and 4km wide, is also constantly guarded by tens of thousands of troops from both sides, making escape seemingly an impossible task.
How the soldier made it across has not yet been disclosed by sources from either side, and North Korean officials are not believed to have acknowledged the defection.
While 4,000 North Koreans have defected to the South since 1998, doing so has become much harder in the last seven years.
Most that do try and escape the dictatorship rarely do so by passing through the DMZ, often choosing to go via other neighbouring countries instead.
In 2017, a North Korean soldier who attempted to cross the DMZ was shot by his own army colleagues while attempting the escape. He was taken to hospital following the shooting, although his more recent fate is not known.
In 2022 a man who had previously defected from the North to the South returned to his native country via the DMZ, due to reportedly “barely scraping a living” working as a janitor in his new home.
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