SHOCKING footage of the North Korean defector who crossed the border shows his desperate dash to freedom as soldiers opened fire.
The soldier fled Kim Jong-un’s rogue regime at Panmunjom, referred to as the “truce village”, on November 13 where he was shot at least four times by soldiers giving chase.
The footage, released by the United Nations Command (UNC), shows how close soldiers got the defector before opening fire.
The video shows the escapee driving a jeep that gets stuck in a ditch before making a mad run to the border.
A soldier from the hermit kingdom crossed the military demarcation line (MDL) in pursuit before turning back around.
After collapsing at the crossing point, the soldier was dragged to South Korea by three troops including the deputy commander of the border security unit.
When the escapee arrived at the hospital, lead surgeon Lee Cook-Jong said the escape would survive.
He stated: "He is fine.
"He is not going to die."
A UNC official revealed that South Korea has accused the rogue nation of violating the 1953 armistice agreement between the two nations after the footage displayed a North Korean soldier crossing the MDL for a few seconds and for shots being fired across the border.
The official said: "The key findings of the special investigation team are that the Korean People’s Army violated the armistice agreement by one, firing weapons across the MDL, and two, by actually crossing the MDL temporarily.”
The escape was found with dozens of parasitic worms in his stomach after surgeons fought to save his life following his helicopter arrival at a hospital in Suwon, south of the country’s capital.
The worms, some as long as 11 inches, demonstrate the poor hygiene and nutrition in the hermit kingdom.
Dr Lee Cook-jong declared: “In my 20 years as a surgeon, I have only seen something like this in a medical textbook.
“We have found dozens of fully grown parasitic worms in his damaged intestines.
“It was a serious parasitic infection.”
At a news briefing, Dr Lee showed photographs showing dozens of parasites removed from the soldier's stomach following a series of life-saving operations.
Experts in parasitic worms were not surprised by the findings.
They said that they were in-line with the isolated and impoverished conditions in the North, adding that the parasites may be a sign that the dictator-run state is using human faeces as fertiliser.
Dr Lee Guk-jong said: “We are struggling with treatment as we found a large number of parasites in the soldier’s stomach, invading and eating into wounded areas.
“We have also discovered a parasite never seen in Koreans before. It is making the situation worse and causing tremendous complications.”
It is widely believed the soldier contracted the disease before he attempted to escape, according to the area Biomedical Review.
Choi Min-Ho, a professor at Seoul National University College of Medicine who specialises in parasites, said: "Although we do not have solid figures showing health conditions of North Korea, medical experts assume that parasite infection problems and serious health issues have been prevalent in the country."
North Korean soldiers, especially those deployed near the border with South Korea, receive priority in food rationing.
However, in addition to the parasitic worms, doctors found kernels of corn in his stomach.
More than 30,000 North Koreans have fled to South Korea since a famine killed more than a million people in the North in the 1990s.
Since then, there have been reports by international relief agencies that there is widespread malnutrition and stunted growth among many children in the North.
The rank and identity of the soldier have not been released.