Run to freedom

The border between North and South Korea is a 155-mile-long and two-and-a-half-mile-wide no man's land known as the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The North Korean side of the DMZ is mined and guarded by armed soldiers with orders to shoot anyone who had moved past them. The South Korean side of the DMZ is guarded by soldiers watching for aggressive movement by the North Korean military. Also, the North border has razor wire and tank traps, and Military.com claims there are a million mines in the DMZ.

The one opening in the DMZ is located at Panmunjom where two buildings sit on the border line. This is where North Korean military representatives meet with South Korean officials to discuss issues over the DMZ. The site is guarded by soldiers from each side and by others monitoring the border.

On Monday, a lower-ranking North Korean soldier left his weapon behind as he bolted toward the border. As he neared the border, other North Korean soldiers opened fire on the fleeing soldier. He was hit once in the elbow and once in the upper arm but he kept going and crossed the border into South Korea.

The BBC reported there have only been four defections by North Korean soldiers across the DMZ in the last three years. It is claimed North Korean soldiers assigned to Panmunjom are picked because they are seen as especially loyal to the government. In 1984, a Soviet citizen made a run across the border as this latest North Korean did. In that incident, the fleeing man drew gunfire from the North, and that gunfire was returned by South Korean soldiers. Three North Korean soldiers and one South Korean soldier were killed by the gunfire. In 1998, another North Korean soldier escaped at Panmunjom.

The Korean DMZ is a trip wire for an invasion of the South. A massive invasion by the North could cross the border quickly but it would draw military action from South Korean forces as well as the U.S. and other allies. Those few who have tried to escape have demonstrated how desperately some want freedom and the risks they will brave to get it.

Jack Dragoni attended Boston College and served in the U.S. Army in Berlin and Vietnam. He lives in Chaffee, Missouri.