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Two armed North Korean border guards are on the run in China after killing a number of others from the same unit and escaping across the border from Hyesan into Changbai, it has been reported.
“I don’t know exactly why yet, but there was an incident on around the 23rd where two guards killed around six to seven of their colleagues and escaped to China,” a source in Hyesan explained today. “The National Security Agency has dispatched a team to China to arrest them.”
The source went on, “The incident occurred right after the 15th when border guard management switched from the Ministry of People’s Armed Forces to the National Security Agency (NSA), and therefore not only the provincial NSA but also the central NSA is devoted to the arrests.”
Daily NK’s Changbai correspondent also confirmed the news today, saying, “The Chinese police have released a warning that ‘Two armed Chosun soldiers have defected and infiltrated Changbai County, so do not walk around alone at night’. They have not been arrested yet so it is possible that they have moved elsewhere.”
“There are checkpoints everywhere in Changbai and they are checking all passing vehicles. Armed policemen and border guards in trucks have been observed moving here and there. The police are also searching in the surrounding hills around Changbai,” the source went on. “The city’s overall atmosphere is uneasy.”
Radio Free Asia also reported today on the escape of armed North Korean soldiers, but said that it was not clear whether soldiers or civilians had been killed.
