North Korean soldier shot multiple times in defection attempt

A North Korean soldier had sped towards the border in a vehicle when a wheel came loose, forcing him to escape on foot under fire from North Korean soldiers who shot around 40 rounds at him.

North Korea's military took action when the defector was spotted in the four-wheel drive heading towards the border alone.

The soldier shot while defecting to the South had undergone several surgical procedures and was in a critical condition, South Korea's government and military said on Tuesday, with doctors expecting to save him.

The soldier took cover behind a South Korean structure within the Joint Security Area (JSA) inside the demilitarized zone between the two Korea's and was later rescued by South Korean and US soldiers at the border, the United Nations Command (UNC) said in a separate statement.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff official said he was found collapsed in a pile of fallen leaves and the three South Korean soldiers who reached him had to crawl on their stomachs to his position.

He was found unarmed and taken to surgery while still in his uniform, which indicated he held a lower rank, Suh said. South Korean officials have yet to identify exactly where the soldier came from and what his intentions were.

"Until this morning, we heard he had no consciousness and was unable to breathe on his own but his life can be saved," said Suh Uk, a South Korean military official who was briefing lawmakers regarding Monday's event.

Five bullets had been extracted from the soldier's body so far, leaving an estimated two inside.

A doctor treating the soldier - who was helicoptered to a hospital for emergency surgery - said he had been shot half-a-dozen times and sustained a serious stomach injury.

"He has at least six gunshot wounds on his body and the penetrating wound in the abdomen is the most serious", the doctor, Lee Cook-Jong, told reporters.