North Korean soldier’s condition stabilizing

Man was shot at least 5 times while defecting to S. Korea

SEOUL, South Korea — The condition of a North Korean soldier severely wounded by gunfire while escaping to South Korea is gradually improving after two surgeries but it’s too early to tell whether he makes a recovery, hospital officials said today.

While the soldier’s vital signs are stabilizing, he continues to remain unconscious and relying on a breathing machine. After consecutive surgeries to repair internal organ damage and other injuries, no further surgeries are planned as of yet, said an official at the Ajou University Medical Center near Seoul.

The unarmed soldier, whose name and rank have not been disclosed, defected to the South on Monday by driving a military jeep near a line that divides the Koreas at the Joint Security Area and then rushing across it under a barrage of bullets.

While treating the wounds, surgeons removed dozens of parasites from the soldier’s ruptured small intestine, including presumed roundworms that were as long as 10.6 inches, which may be reflective of poor nutrition and health in North Korea’s military. Doctors measured the soldier as being 5 feet 6 inches tall, but weighing just 132 pounds. “I spent more than 20 years of experience as a surgeon, but I have not found parasites this big in the intestines of South Koreans,” Lee Cook-jong, who leads the soldier’s medical team, told reporters.

South Korea’s military said four North Korean soldiers fired about 40 rounds at their former comrade, who was hit at least five times. He was found beneath a pile of leaves on the southern side of the Joint Security Area, and South Korean troops crawled there to recover him.