South Korea is taunting its rival to the north after a soldier defected from the Hermit Kingdom — by blasting news of his escape over loudspeakers along the border separating the warring countries.
The South is using a massive speaker system to announce to northerners within 12 miles of the demilitarized zone that it has received with open arms the soldier-defector known only as “Oh,” who on Nov. 13 suffered five gunshots from his erstwhile countrymen as he dramatically fled North Korea in a jeep and later on foot.
“The nutritive conditions of the North Korean soldier who recently defected through the Panmunjom were unveiled,” the South trumpets in one message, referring to Oh’s poor health upon arrival, according to Yonhap News agency.
Doctors treating Oh after his defection discovered he has tuberculosis, hepatitis B and parasitic worms up to 10½ inches long writhing in his ruptured small intestine.
The loudspeaker broadcast also explains how Oh escaped — which was also caught on video — including the fact his former comrades opened fire on him and violated a truce between the two nations by shooting into the South.
The tactics are not new, but the South had pushed pause on such broadcasts until January, when it resumed the psychological warfare after the North completed its fourth nuclear test in January, according to Yonhap.
In addition to news of the outside world, the speakers often blare Korean pop music into North Korea to entice defectors.
South Korean doctors are still treating Oh and hope to interrogate him in a few weeks once his gunshot wounds heal.
He is being shown the American television crime drama “CSI” and is played K-pop to lift his spirits. Oh is also enjoying the action flick “The Transporter,” according to English-language paper Chosun Ilbo.
Meanwhile, North Koreans have tightened border security by installing a locking gate on the bridge Oh drove over, as well as by digging more ditches like the one his jeep became stuck in during his escape.
“The North seems retracing the escape route to plug up loopholes,” a military spokesman told Chosun Ilbo.
The North has also replaced border guards at checkpoints that Oh slipped through.