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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 23, 2017)
4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2017 Drama caught on video as N. Korean soldier escapes By FOSTER KLUG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea — It’s 3:11 p.m. on a cold, gray day on the North Korean side of the most heavily armed border in the world, and a lone soldier is racing toward freedom. His dark olive-green jeep speeds down a straight, tree- lined road, past drab, barren fields and, headlights shin- ing, across the replacement for the Bridge of No Return, which was used for prisoner exchanges during the Korean War. The shock of soldiers watching the jeep rush by is palpable from the video released Wednesday, and no wonder: They’re beginning to realize that one of their com- rades is defecting to the South. They sprint after him. The jeep slows and turns at a monument to North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, the stag- ing point for North Korean tours of the area. The border is near, South Korea just beyond it. Four North Korean sol- diers, weapons in their hands, race by the blue huts that strad- dle the line and are familiar to anyone who has toured the only spot on the border where North and South Korean sol- diers face off within spitting distance of each other. There are no tourists this day. Right at the line that divides North from South, the defector crashes the jeep into a ditch. Seconds pass as he tries in vain to gun the vehi- cle out of the gully before leaping out and sprinting into the South. He kicks up leaves, ducking below a tree branch just as the North Korean sol- diers skid into view. Muzzles flash. The North Korean soldiers, one of whom drops flat into the leaves, fire at the defector at close range with handguns and AK-47 assault rifles — about 40 rounds, the South says. Suddenly, two of the North Koreans run away while the soldier in the leaves jumps up and dashes across the divid- ing line into South Korean ter- ritory before stopping, turn- ing on his heels and sprinting back to the northern side after his comrades. The defector falls stretched out and unmov- ing in a pile of leaves against a small wall on the South Korean side. The entire sequence, from the first appearance of the jeep to the soldier’s frenzied cross- ing, lasts four minutes. United Nations Command via AP This combination of images from surveillance video shows a North Korean soldier running from a jeep and then shot by North Korean soldiers in Panmunjom before collapsing across the border in South Korea. It unfolded Nov. 13 in the Joint Security Area, which is overseen by both the Ameri- can-led U.N. Command and North Korea and lies inside the 2 1/2-mile-wide Demili- tarized Zone that has been the de facto border between the Koreas since the war. Forty minutes later, the video has switched to infrared to show the heat signatures of two South Korean soldiers as they crawl on their hands and knees, using a wall as cover, toward the prone defector. They grab hold of the defec- tor and drag him to safety. Not far away, heavily armed North Korean troops begin to gather near the Kim Il Sung monument. For the moment, the border is quiet again. Surprisingly, North and South Korean soldiers didn’t exchange fire during the shooting, the first in the area in more than three decades. The bullets went in only one direction. The defection, subsequent surgeries and slow recovery of the soldier have riveted South Korea. But his escape is a huge embarrassment for the North, which claims all defec- tions are the result of rival Seoul kidnapping or enticing North Koreans. Pyongyang has said nothing about the defection so far. North Korea’s actions during the defector’s escape at the Panmunjom border village violated the armistice agree- ment ending the Korean War because North Korean sol- diers fired across and phys- ically crossed the border in pursuit of the soldier, U.S. Col. Chad Carroll, a spokes- man for the U.N. command, told reporters in a live TV briefing Wednesday. A U.N. Command statement said a meeting had been requested with the North’s military to discuss the violations. After undergoing two sur- geries last week to repair internal organ damage and other injuries, the soldier has regained consciousness and is no longer relying on a breath- ing machine. His doctor said Wednesday he is enjoying watching American movies and shows such as “Trans- formers,” ‘’CSI,” and “Bruce Almighty,” and listening to South Korean pop songs such as “Gee” by popular female band “Girls’ Generation.” “His condition has become much better since yesterday. We’ve turned on the TV for him since yesterday,” doctor Lee Cook-jong told reporters. “He said it was so painful when he was shot by bullets but that he doesn’t feel pain now,” he said. Doctors plan to keep him at an intensive care unit for at least several more days to guard against possible infec- tion, hospital official Shin Mi-jeong said. While treating the wounds, surgeons earlier removed doz- ens of parasites from the sol- dier’s ruptured small intestine, including presumed round- worms that were as long as 10.6 inches, which may reflect poor nutrition and health in North Korea’s military. The soldier is 5 feet, 7 inches tall but weighs just 132 pounds. About 30,000 North Kore- ans have fled to South Korea, mostly across the porous bor- der with China, since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. Now add one more to that tally — a man in uniform, fleeing gunfire toward a new life one overcast afternoon across the world’s most uneasy border. Associated Press writers Hyung-jin Kim and Kim Tong- hyung contributed to this report. Deli: ‘I saw this as an incredible opportunity’ Continued from Page 1A “We wanted to do some- thing that Cannon Beach doesn’t already have,” Ray- mond said. “This town is great at clam chowder, fish and chips, and things like that. With the brewery as a partner, the inclusion of a craft charcuterie is a perfect match.” The beginning Technically, the owners began the process to open the charcuterie about two years ago. But in a certain sense, the beginning of this story is when Raymond first started working at Bill’s Tavern and Brewhouse as a bartender more than 12 years ago. For as long as he can remember, Raymond has been a self-proclaimed foodie. Trying different restaurants is his favorite part of any vacation. His love for food was taken to the next level when he purchased a small-scale smoker. He began experimenting with smoking the salmon and cod he would catch on his fish- ing trips and would share the final product with his friends. Raymond shared his pas- sion with Bond, a longtime friend, who before ventur- ing into the world of cured meats ran Voyages Toy Co. in Sandpiper Square. He was looking for a way to get back into the retail world of Cannon Beach, and couldn’t think of a better way to do so than with such a close friend. “I was impressed with his product and his passion. I saw this as an incredible opportunity to own a busi- ness with a friend,” Bond said. “They tell you never to do that, but so far, so good.” Striking a deal Around the same time, the property behind Bill’s Tavern and Brewhouse opened up. After 12 years of working as his bartender, Raymond struck a deal with Jim Oyala, who owns the tavern and the building, to open the smoke- house there. “At Bill’s, we’re fam- ily. We work together, and the bond we have is real, and emotional,” Oyala said. “Raymond is one of the best employees I have ever had, and I didn’t want to lose him. So we collaborated with this smokehouse.” Both Raymond and Bond have cherished memories of summers spent in Cannon Beach as children, and hav- ing the opportunity to own and operate a business they love as much as the com- munity in which they live is something for which they both feel grateful. “I feel incredibly blessed. I’m definitely not taking this for granted,” Raymond said. As the business expands, Raymond and Bond hope to continue to create more part- nerships with local restau- rants. But the relationship between Raymond and Bill’s Tavern and Brewhouse will always be a little different. “There is something syn- ergistic about this whole space,” Oyala said. “You can feel it. This is where peo- ple who really love Cannon Beach will come, because they will feel it, too.” Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Warrenton Grade School students carry frozen turkeys from a walk-in freezer during an event on Tuesday to provide boxes of food to families in need before the Thanksgiving holiday. Hungry: Walmart donated $7,000 to help Continued from Page 1A students considered homeless share housing with friends or acquaintances out of need. Debbie Morrow, chair- woman of the Warren- ton-Hammond School Board and director of Healthy Kids, said the Thanksgiving food program started around the same time after the group learned a stark reality for some of the district’s kids. “We were told by a teacher that kids absolutely hate and are absolutely fearful of a week off of school, contrary to what we think, because they weren’t going to have a meal,” Morrow said. Donated dinners, time At Walmart’s groundbreak- ing in Warrenton this summer, the company donated $5,000 to the Clatsop Community Action Regional Food Bank and another $2,000 to War- renton High School programs. Ackley connected with a Walmart manager at the event who asked how the company could help with Healthy Kids, she said. That resulted in 100 free dinners worth of Thanks- giving staples such as whole turkeys, precooked turkey breasts, mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing, buns and brownie mix assembled at the Walmart in Longview, Washington. “We didn’t have to buy anything,” Morrow said, add- ing some of the dinners were tailored toward families with- out adequate kitchens. Helping pack the meals into boxes Tuesday were Ian McCormick and teammates from a Warrenton Grade School youth basketball team. His team’s travel costs were covered by a private donor who only required “that we do something for our commu- nity,” McCormick said. As a registered non- profit, Healthy Kids can act as the fiscal agent for other efforts, such as a food back- pack program Morrow said the group is helping students start in Knappa. Beyond food, Healthy Kids helps provide clothing, toiletries and other staples for students in need. The schools open early to allow kids time to take show- ers and do laundry, Mor- row said, and Healthy Kids has started a snack locker for students at Warrenton High School. “We really have at Warren- ton made a strategic effort to not only identify homeless- ness, but kids dealing with all issues,” she said. “You can’t educate a child when their social and emotional needs are not being met.” More commonplace Such programs have become more commonplace around the county, which has suffered from a contin- ually increasing rate of stu- dent homelessness. Astoria and Seaside school districts both offer food backpack pro- grams at elementary and mid- dle schools. Schools have also been offering lockers and other areas for students to get food and clothing discreetly. Broadway Middle School raised money and provided 30 Thanksgiving dinners for its students. The school also provides an area for kids to go grab food or clothing dis- creetly. Principal Robert Rust said he is always impressed by how the community steps up. After the holidays end and before the tourist-based econ- omy picks up for the summer is when the need becomes par- ticularly acute, he said. Christine Smith, a mother of a student and board member on the nonprofit Food for Kids that serves Seaside students, said the group now provides weekend food backpacks for more than 180 kids weekly on average. Like other food back- pack programs, theirs does not extend into high school, where Smith said another challenge is getting past the increasing stigma students face in getting assistance. “It’s an issue just getting them to take it, even when you know kids are sleeping on friends’ couches,” she said. “There’s a pride you have to respect.” Port: ‘Loss of railhead relegates the Port to mediocrity’ Continued from Page 1A Brenna Visser/The Daily Astorian Jacob Bond and Brian Raymond worked for two years to open Cannon Beach Smokehouse Charcuterie & Bar. A large contingent of long- shoremen, the Port’s dockside labor force, attended the meet- ing. Local chapter President Chris Connaway and Marvin Kelley both spoke against the departure. “The bottom line is the loss of the railhead relegates the Port to mediocrity at best,” Connaway said, listing prod- ucts from steel to lumber that could be shipped cheaper by rail. He implored the Port Com- mission to look at the Port of Grays Harbor in Aberdeen, Washington, a riverside dock with a rail spur and multiple imports and exports. Kelley argued the Port could sublease North Tongue Point to Hyack Maritime, still make money and not lose the asset. Knight said the Port will send a proposed lease termi- nation document to Wash- ington Development Co. for negotiations. “I can’t promise you at this point that this is the final accepted document, but it does, for the Port, convince our community and the land- lord and the future boat- builder of this community that the Port is not trying to stop the termination of the agreement,” Knight said. “We feel comfortable and confident in their ability to have a new employer in town that will create jobs that I think will become very important to our community.”