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Parasites as long as 27cm found in defecting North Korean soldier

The state of the soldier's health may be evidence of poor nutrition and health in the communist country's military forces.

By Sharon Marris, News Reporter

Saturday 18 November 2017 14:17, UK

North Korean soldiers look on as South Korean and United Nation officials visit after attending a ceremony to commemorate the 64th Anniversary of the Korean War armistice agreement at Panmunjom in the the Joint Security Area on July 27, 2017 in Panmunjom, South Korea
Image: The state of the North Korean soldier may signify the poor nutrition and health of his ex-comrades
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A North Korean soldier who defected to the South was infected with dozens of parasites, doctors have said.

The unarmed soldier raced across the border in a military jeep while being fired on by his own comrades on Monday.

The parasites were removed from the soldier's ruptured small intestine, including what were thought to have been roundworms as long as 27cm.

His name and rank have not been revealed but he is believed to be a staff sergeant aged in his mid-20s.

A surgeon Lee Cook-jong gives a briefing during a news conference at a hospital in Suwon, South Korea, November 15, 2017
Image: Parasites were removed from the soldier's small intestine, including roundworms

At 5'6 tall but weighing 60kg, the soldier's state is thought to be indicative of the poor health among North Korea's troops.

Lee Cook-jong, who leads the team treating the soldier, said: "I spent more than 20 years of experience as a surgeon, but I have not found parasites this big in the intestines of South Koreans."

A surgeon Lee Cook-jong gives a briefing during a news conference at a hospital in Suwon, South Korea, November 15, 2017
Image: A surgeon Lee Cook-jong talked about the soldier's health during a briefing in South Korea

Experts have said that, because North Korea lacks chemical fertilisers, it uses human excrement to fertilise fields, helping parasites to spread.

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According to a 2014 study cited by the New York Times, South Korean doctors examined 17 female defectors from the North and found seven of them had parasitic worms.

But more pressing were the serious injuries the soldier sustained from the shots fired at him as he tried to escape Kim Jong Un's regime on Monday.

A South Korean soldier (R) watches North Korean soldiers patrol in the northern part of the Joint Security Area at the truce village of Panmunjom, in the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, 42 km (26 miles) northwest of Seoul April 30, 2008
Image: The Joint Security Area which separates the two Koreas - a South Korean soldier watches his northern neighbours

The soldier had tried to defect by driving into the Joint Security Area, a heavily guarded part of the Demilitarised Zone, where soldiers from the South and North watch each other just metres apart.

He had then run across the border as four of his colleagues used handguns and AK rifles to fire about 40 rounds at him.

He was hit five times.

A North Korean propaganda village is pictured from the Observation Post Ouellette in the Joint Security Area of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) near Panmunjom on the border between North and South Korea during a visit by US President Barack Obama on March 25, 2012. Obama arrived in Seoul earlier in the day to attend the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit to be held on March 26-27
Image: A North Korean propaganda village is pictured from an observation post in the Joint Security Area

After collapsing just metres from his goal, he was pulled to safety by South Korean troops and taken to hospital by a US helicopter.

He remains at the Ajou University Medical Center near Seoul, where he is on life support.

He has had two surgeries but, while doctors said his vital signs are improving and no more surgeries are scheduled, it is too early to say whether he will recover fully.

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