The South Korean surgeon who helped save the North Korean defector’s life this month says the 24-year-old soldier is “a pretty nice guy” and a “strong man.”
“He’s a pretty nice guy,” lead surgeon John Cook-jong Lee, who has been operating and caring for the 24-year-old man, going only by his surname, Oh, told Reuters. He also said, “He’s a quite strong man.”
Oh had attempted to gain freedom by dashing across the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) into South Korea. He was shot five times by his fellow North Korean soldiers but made it to freedom before being hospitalized and treated for his injuries.
A video of Oh’s escape was released last week. It showed the 24-year-old stumbling over the 38th Parallel, falling unconscious, and being dragged to safety by South Korean troops. An American military helicopter was used to transport him to the hospital, and Reuters reported that American Army flight medics fought to keep him alive, including jabbing a large needle into his chest to treat a collapsed lung.
A bullet also reportedly shredded Oh’s colon, which had to be stitched back together in seven different places; he will have lifelong complications as a result of this.
Dr. Lee told Reuters that two major surgeries were required to remove the bullets from Oh’s body and patch him back together. He also noted that his operations required approximately 12 liters of new blood which is double the amount of blood in an average body.
Oh also expressed to Dr. Lee that “he is so thankful for South Koreans for saving his life and giving him that much blood.”
Oh reportedly joined the North Korean army when he was 17. Dr. Lee noted to Reuters that Oh’s hair is styled “like a jarhead, like a U.S. Marine, so I actually joked ‘why don’t you join the South Korean Marines?’ He smiled and said that he would never ever go back to the military system again.”
Between January and August of this year alone, 780 North Koreans defected to South Korea.
Adelle Nazarian is a politics and national security reporter for Breitbart News. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
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