Cold War drama caught on video as N. Korean soldier escapes
SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — It’s 3:11 p.m. on a cold, grey day on the North Korean side of the most heavily armed border in the world, and a lone soldier is racing toward freedom.
His dark olive-green jeep speeds down a straight, tree-lined road, past drab, barren fields and, headlights shining, across the replacement for the Bridge of No Return, which was used for prisoner exchanges during the Korean War. The shock of soldiers watching the jeep rush by is palpable from the video released Wednesday, and no wonder: They’re beginning to realize that one of their comrades is defecting to the South.
They sprint after him.
The jeep slows and turns at a monument to North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, the staging point for North Korean tours of the area.