North Korea accused of violating armistice by pursuing defecting soldier

(CNN)North Korea stands accused of violating the armistice agreement between North and South Korea, after North Korean soldiers fired across the line that divides the two countries in pursuit of a defector last week.

The United Nations Command in South Korea played dramatic security footage of the soldier's brazen defection across the heavily fortified demilitarized zone (DMZ) at a news conference on Wednesday. It showed the soldier running across the border as North Korean soldiers shot at him and officers later crawling to rescue him.

A North Korean defector is pictured in security footage as he crosses the DMZ dividing the two Koreas in this screenshot of handout video provided by the United Nations Command.

As well as firing across the border, one North Korea soldier crossed the military demarcation line (MDL) -- another violation of the armistice that paused the Korean War in 1953, said Col. Chad Carroll, US Forces Korea public affairs director. A peace treaty formally ending the war has never been signed.

Carroll said that the UN Command had notified the North Korean People's Army of the violations via regular communication channels and had requested a meeting. The soldier is the third member of the North Korean armed forces to defect this year.

Soldier regains consciousness

The soldier, who was shot five times and underwent multiple surgeries, has regained consciousness but needs further treatment, his surgeon Lee Guk-jong said in a separate news conference Wednesday at the Ajou University Hospital.

"I felt that the North Korean soldier who defected to South Korea this time came out to South Korea with his own will," said Lee. "This is because I have talked a lot with him."

Lee added that the former soldier had viruses that could lead to liver cancer.

Last week, doctors said the soldier sustained five gunshot wounds on his right buttock, left armpit, back shoulder, right upper arm and right knee. The defector was also found to have dozens of parasites, some as long as 27 centimeters, in his ruptured intestines, which may be reflective of poor nutrition and health in North Korea's military.

The former North Korean soldier's name and rank have not been revealed.

View from North Korea side of the Demilitarized Zone earlier this year, at Panmungak, looking towards Freedom House.

According to information released by officials last week, the soldier drove a vehicle near the military demarcation line and then "exited the vehicle and continued fleeing south across the line as he was fired upon by other soldiers from North Korea."

More than 40 bullets were fired at the soldier, from pistols and an AK-47, South Korea's military said. South Korean troops did not return fire.

CNN's Ben Westcott and Paula Hancocks contributed to this report

News Courtesy: www.cnn.com