North Korea reportedly replaces guards where defector escaped

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean media say North Korea appears to have replaced all of its guards at a jointly patrolled border area where a North Korean soldier defected last week under a hail of gunfire.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry on Friday couldn’t confirm the report by Yonhap news agency, which cited an unnamed intelligence source saying there were “signs” the North had replaced its entire security force of 35 to 40 men at the Joint Security Area.

Yonhap also reports the North seems to have temporarily closed a bridge over which the defector drove a military jeep to reach the border before his dramatic escape on foot Monday.

The defector is recovering from multiple gunshot wounds at a South Korean hospital.