Surgeon Says North Korean Defector Is a 'Pretty Nice Guy'
The surgeon who treated the latest North Korean defector says he is a pleasant man enjoys watching "CSI," "Bruce Almighty" and listening to K-pop.
Last week, a 24-year-old North Korean soldier wowed the world when he made a brave dash to cross over the border and defect to South Korea. It was an intense scene when the defector was being chased and gunned down by the North Korean border patrol until he had managed to finally go across the border where he is pulled by South Korean soldiers to safety. Now, the North Korean defector, who is only referred to by his family name, "Oh," is on the road to recovery after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds as well as other illnesses.
Lee Cook-jong, the lead surgeon who operated on the defector, says they have found many ailments from the young man including hepatitis B, tuberculosis and parasitic worms in his digestive system with one roundworm being almost a foot long. According to Lee, never in his 20 years as a doctor has he ever found parasitic worms as big as those in the North Korean defector.
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Not only that, their medical team had also worked for days pulling out the bullets lodged inside his body and stitching up his shredded organs. Doctor Lee says that he is now doing okay and is recovering in the intensive care unit, but what Lee fears the most about his recovery is his psychological well-being. Right now, Lee says he avoids subjects that might cause panic to the patient and has even hung a South Korean flag inside his room.
According to the doctor, while Oh can now eat liquid food and smile as well as talk with his hands, the first time he had woken up, he was crying out in pain and fears that he might be returned to North Korea. Furthermore, Oh told Lee that he first joined the North Korean army when he was 17 years old.
"He's a pretty nice guy," Lee said about the defector. The doctor also says that the 24-year-old former North Korean border patrol soldier is now enjoying American films and comedies like "Bruce Almighty" as well as "CSI."
Thankfully for Oh, North Korean defectors are fiercely protected by the South Korean government. He will most likely be subjected into questioning and will be taken to a resettlement center afterward, where he will undergo three months of education so that he would be able to adjust to the life in South Korea. He will be supported by the government and will be given seven million won ($6,450) every year, along with housing, education and job support.
