The North Korean soldier who dashed across the border to defect is suffering from life-threatening lung and liver infections which are complicating his recovery from multiple gunshot wounds, a local newspaper said Monday
According to a report from the Donga Ilbo, the solider remains in a critical condition, with blood poisoning, pneumonia and Hepatitis B in addition to his injuries. He has undergone two surgeries so far for gunshot-wounds after being shot five times by North Korean soldiers.
Citing medical officials at the hospital treating the solider, the newspaper reported that the patient was “struggling” to recover from the critical injuries. His second surgery was last Thursday.
“His liver doesn’t work well and he has been diagnosed with pneumonia and Hepatitis B. He even has blood poisoning. … He is in trouble,” the report quoted an official from Ajou University Medical Center as saying.
The North Korean soldier who dashed across the border to defect was transported to Ajou University Medical Center after being shot five times from the North Korean guards last Monday. Yonhap
The pneumonia is suspected to stem from gunshot injuries to his lung, while blood poisoning is associated with the massive blood infusion during the surgery and secondary infections from his abdomen wounds, the official added.
When the solider was transported to the hospital, he appeared to be “untreatable” because his blood pressure had dropped to 70 mmHg, according to the official. He received a transfusion of O-type blood as there was no time to figure out his blood type. Some 16 liters of blood has been used, it added.
When he was found under a pile of leaves south of the border inside the Joint Security Area, he was bloodied from gunshots to his shoulder, elbow and abdomen. He was rescued by South Korean soldiers and transported to the hospital.
“We are paying extra care to prevent complications from faeces and parasites,” Doctor Lee Cook-jong, who treated the solider, said after his second surgery on Thursday. “We are not in a position to be sure.”
The surgery has also highlighted the dire medical conditions in North Korea as the wounded soldier was found to carry dozens of parasitic worms and suffer from Hepatitis B — a common disease in the North.
Hepatitis B is an infectious disease that affects the liver. The virus is transmitted by exposure to infected blood or body fluids. It can lead to serious complications such as liver cancer.
According to a report from the Korea Centres for Disease Control & Prevention in 2014, North Korean defectors residing in South Korea were found to be much more likely to have Hepatitis B and tuberculosis than South Korean citizens.
Among the 1,588 defectors responding to the survey, 12.4 per cent of male defectors and 10.4 per cent of female defectors had Hepatitis B. The number was about three times as much as the rate among South Koreans.
The escaped soldier’s specific identity and motive for defection have not been revealed. South Korea’s top spy agency said last week that he was a 20-something noncommissioned officer serving at the Joint Security Area.
