The demilitarised zone separating North Korea and South Korea witnessed some rare and dramatic events after an American man tried to cross into the North. The 58-year-old man from Louisiana was arrested by South Korean officials as he tried to cross the civilian control line.
Soon after the arrest of the American man, the US Embassy in Seoul told that they will provide appropriate consular service to the detained man.
In the meantime, a North Korean soldier was shot by his fellow soldiers after he dashed over the border. According to reports, the North Korean soldier exited from his heavily guarded vehicle at the Panmunjom border and tried to escape to South. At least 40 rounds were fired on the soldier, and six bullets penetrated his body. Even though heavily injured, the North Korean soldier succeeded in defecting to the South. The soldier is now undergoing treatment in a South Korean hospital.
The doctor who is treating the North Korean soldier revealed that the bullet injury in his abdomen is very serious.
As tours were not run on Mondays, no tourists were present on the spot during the time of the incident. Panmunjom De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) border is very much different from the remaining portions of the Korean line of control where minefields and barbed wire poses life threat to trespassers. In the Panmunjom border, only a low concrete divider separates the nations, and this might have tempted the North Korean soldier to escape to the South through this way.
