An army deserter from a North Korean military camp along the PRC-DPRK border swam across the Tumen River in search of food last week and terrorized a Chinese village, according to South Korean reports, killing four elderly residents.
According to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, the defector swam across the Tumen River on the morning of December 27, reaching the shores of Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in Jilin Province at approximately 7:30am.
The runaway soldier then broke into the home of a 60-year-old villager near the city of Helong, shooting him and his wife to death before proceeding to their 70-year-old neighbor's home and beating him and his wife to death with his gun.
At a third house, the 26-year-old soldier then stole RMB100 and some food. Chinese police caught up with the deserted at the upper reaches of the Tumen and shot him in the stomach. He remains unconscious in a nearby hospital.
Although this case is distinguished by the sheer scale of brutality and desperation, it is not the first time North Koreans have been compelled by famine to slip across the border and steal cash and foodstuffs from Chinese villagers.
In December last year, a DPRK citizen was apprehended after breaking into a house in the town of Yilin, under Yanji City in Jilin. After killing the occupant of the home and stealing RMB20,000, he then fled to Beijing. When he was questioned by police, he admitted to making cross-border raids in Yanbian four times previously.
UPDATE: Following state media silence on the incident, it has been reported today that Beijing has just lodged an official protest with the DPRK over the villagers' deaths.
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