The defector is in custody and is likely being questioned as authorities investigate the reasons behind his defection, and seek other information about his life in one of the world’s most reclusive states.
Another North Korean soldier who defected to the South spoke to CNN in November about the harsh conditions endured by military servicemen in North Korea.
“There are countless soldiers in North Korea who cannot even walk because of malnourishment,” he told CNN. “The UN is sending rice and fertilizer to North Korea, but not a single grain goes to North Korea’s ordinary people.”
Prior to this year, there had only been four defections from North Korea’s armed forces in the past five years: one in 2016, one in 2015 and two in 2012.
John Delury, associate professor at the Yonsei University Graduate School of International Studies in Seoul, told CNN it was far to early to draw any conclusions from the numbers of defections in 2017.
“There are often individual motives to spur this … four in a year is not enough to constitute evidence of something systemic,” he said. “There would be need to be a lot more (defections) I would say.”
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