Troops awarded for rescuing North Korean defector

Three American and three South Korean soldiers were recognized by senior military leaders Thursday for their roles in rescuing a North Korean defector who was shot multiple times while fleeing the country last week.

Video footage of the defector’s daring escape — which shows him running across the border that divides the two countries while being pursued by North Korean soldiers — captured global attention when it was released Wednesday.

The man made it to the South Korean side of the border before he collapsed from his wounds and was dragged to safety by U.S. and South Korean personnel.

“You were all in the range of North Korean fire,” Gen. Kim Byeong-joo, deputy commander of the U.S.-South Korea Combined Forces Command, told the troops during a ceremony at Camp Bonifas. “It was a precarious situation ... (and) a showcase of great leadership.”

The dramatic scene, which unfolded shortly before 4 p.m. on Nov. 13, occurred as tension among the three countries has soared in recent months, with the threat of conflict being driven by the often volatile exchanges between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

In striking video footage of the escape, the defector can be seen driving a jeep through the demilitarized zone, the strip of heavily protected land that has long separated the two nations. After his vehicle became stuck in a ditch, the man jumped out and fled south on foot as four North Korean soldiers gave chase and opened fire on him.

Hit at least five times, he collapsed on the South Korean side of the Joint Security Area, the only place where North and South Korean soldiers directly face each other. Two soldiers from the joint command then crawled out to the man, while others in the unit monitored the situation.