Dramatic footage shows a North Korean defector's harrowing escape to the South

The United Nations Command has released dramatic video of a North Korean military defector's escape to South Korea last week. The defector, whose name has not been released, can be seen racing toward the border in a car before crashing and fleeing on foot. North Korean soldiers opened fire on the defector — he was shot at least five times, The Guardian reports — and South Korean forces managed to crawl to where he was wounded and drag him to safety.

"The reason that he defected, risking death and facing a barrage of gunshots, was because he had positive hopes about South Korea," said the soldier's lead surgeon, Lee Cook-jong, adding: "He is fine. He is not going to die."

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.