The United Nations (UN) has written to the North Korean Army notifying it of the violation of the armistice agreement between North and South Korea after its soldiers fired across the line that divides the two countries in pursuit of a defector last week.
The UN Command in South Korea played dramatic security footage of the soldier’s brazen defection across the heavily fortified demilitarized zone (DMZ) at a news conference on Wednesday.
It showed the soldier running across the border as North Korean soldiers shot at him and South Korean troops later crawling to rescue him.
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As well as firing across the border, one North Korea soldier crossed the military demarcation line (MDL) which is another violation of the armistice that paused the Korean War in 1953, said Col. Chad Carroll, U.S. Forces Korea public affairs director.
A peace treaty formally ending the war has never been signed.
Carroll said that the UN Command had notified the North Korean People’s Army of the violations via regular communication channels and requested a meeting to discuss the results of the UN investigation into the incident as well as measures to prevent future such violations.
“The armistice agreement was challenged, but it remains in place,” said Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, the American who leads the UN Command.
The soldier is the third member of the North Korean armed forces to defect this year.
