GREG PALKOT IN OUR LONDON
BUREAU TODAY.
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE
LATEST DEFECTION?
>> LOOKING MORE AND MORE
WE SAW A NORTH KOREAN SOLDIER
AND SOUTH KOREA.
IT HAPPENED EARLY MORNING KOREA
TIME.
THIS 19-YEAR-OLD SOLDIER, ONLY
TWO YEARS IN THE NORTH KOREAN
MILITARY CROSSED THE DMZ, WENT
UP TO A SOUTH KOREAN MILITARY
OUTPOST AND GAVE HIMSELF UP.
AN HOUR LATER NORTH KOREAN
SOLDIERS STARTED TO MAKE THEIR
WAY ACROSS THE DMZ BEFORE THEY
AN HOUR AFTER THAT MORE SHOTS
COMES ABOUT 40 DAYS AFTER A
MORE DRAMATIC DEFECTION BY A
NORTH KOREAN SOLDIER.
THIS ONE RIGHT AT THE HEART OF
THE DMZ.
SHOTS WERE FIRED IN THAT CASE.
ALL TOLD, 15 NORTH KOREANS HAVE
DEFECTED DIRECTLY FROM THE
NORTH TO THE SOUTH THIS YEAR.
INCLUDING FOUR SOLDIERS.
THIS COMPARED TO ONLY FIVE LAST
YEAR.
PERHAPS A SIGN OF MORE
DESPERATE TIMES UP IN THE
NORTH, LAURA.
>> Laura: YOU START TO WONDER
COUPLE OF DAYS ABOUT SOME
PRETTY AGGRESSIVE ONES BEING
CONDUCTED LAST WEEK BY U.S.
MILITARY AND SOUTH KOREAN
MILITARY.
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF TROOPS
WERE INVOLVED WITH THESE IN AN
EXERCISE AREA, DRILL AREA THAT
WE HAVE VISITED NOT TOO FAR
SOUTH FROM THE DMZ.
IN THIS CASE, ACCORDING TO
REPORTS, THEY WERE PRACTICING
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS
THAT IS KNOWN PYONGYANG DOES
HAVE.
THIS, OF COURSE, LESS THAN TWO
MONTHS BEFORE THE START OF
WINTER OLYMPICS IN SOUTH KOREA.
THOSE GAMES BEING RUN MAYBE
ONLY 50, 60 MILES SOUTH OF THAT
DMZ.
THE FEAR, OF COURSE, IS THE
NORTH MIGHT TRY TO DISRUPT
THOSE GAMES.
THERE ARE THOUSANDS AND
THOUSANDS OF SECURITY FORCES
