We Crossed the Border As Our Lives Were Threatened<\/p>\n
\n[imText1]On the 12th, Japan\u2019s Asahi TV interviewed two North Korean border guards who successfully defected from North Korea to a neighboring village in China. <\/p>\n
On the 4th, the DailyNK reported that 1 platoon of border guards from the district of Hoiryeong had defected to China, and that secret agents had been sent to China in search of arrest.<\/p>\n
Following the report, Asahi TV sent correspondents to the border regions of North Korea and China where they were able to meet two of the defected border guards. <\/p>\n
In order to protect the defectors, the time of escape and their identity was not revealed. <\/p>\n
First, the defected guards showed the correspondent the North Korean military uniforms which they had worn in North Korea. \u201cIn North Korea, this military uniform is called a tiger\u2019s skin. As long as you are wearing this coat, no one can touch you\u201d he said explaining the hierarchical privilege and status of the People\u2019s Army. <\/p>\n
When asked on which path the guards had taken, they revealed \u201cWe came through the mountains. It was really hard. It took about 2 days.\u201d<\/p>\n
For what reasons did they defect? \u201cWe smuggled stuff through the border patrols. Even if someone asked for a woman, we sometimes engaged in human traffic. By doing this, we earned about 20,000 won a year. The border patrols have just begun investigations. We crossed over to China as we would be killed (if caught)\u201d they said and confessed that they had committed felony. <\/p>\n
The guards revealed that in 2005 they had visited a place in Hoireyong where public executions were conducted against persons charged with \u201chuman traffic.\u201d Human traffic is also considered a serious felony in North Korea and thus the punishment is also severe. It seems that the defected guards had been threatened with execution in the case their crimes were discovered.<\/p>\n
\u203b Following is a part of Asahi TV\u2019s report
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