North Korean Defector Receives Suspended Sentence for Attempt to Ram Bus Across Unification Bridge to North Korea
I have been over the Unification Bridge more times than I can remember and this guy never had a chance of succeeding to defect this way. This likely more a call for mental help which is likely why he wasn’t jailed:
A South Korean court on Monday handed a suspended sentence to a North Korean defector who attempted to cross the border back into the North last year using a stolen bus, according to local media. The defector, who was not publicly identified, received a two-year prison sentence suspended for three years from the Goyang Branch of Uijeongbu District Court, the Yonhap News Agency reported Monday.
The ruling means he will avoid jail time if he does not commit further offenses during that period. The incident occurred on Oct. 1, when the man stole a shuttle bus from a garage in Paju, about five miles south of the heavily fortified border, and drove it approximately three miles toward the Unification Bridge, which spans the Imjin River and connects the two Koreas.
He was apprehended by South Korean soldiers after crashing into a checkpoint barricade, Gyeonggi Provincial Police said at the time. The court stated in its ruling that the defector did not appear motivated by support for or loyalty to North Korea, according to Yonhap.
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