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Exile
Incident of Masgak |
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This incident occurred on November 23, 1984. While a Soviet civilian tourist was taking photographs of a meeting of the Military Armistice Commission in the MAC building, he suddenly dashed across the MDL shouting “Please, save me”.
As the South Korean guard forces helped to evacuate him, the North Korean guard forces fired their weapons in warning. After unsuccessful attempts to capture him, they rushed across the MDL and went down to the Sunken garden, located near the Freedom House about 150m south of the MDL.
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In total, 17 North Korean guard forces crossed the MDL and entrenched themselves around the southern portion of the Sunken garden for a gun fight that lasted about 30 minutes. Despite the intense exchange of fire, the Soviet citizen was moved to safety. As a result, this incident left one South Korean casualty, one U.S soldier wounded. 3 North Korean soldiers were also killed and 5 others wounded.
With the consent of the United Nations Command, the North Koreans crossed the MDL and took the bodies of the dead soldiers and brought the wounded back to North Korea. After that, the Soviet citizen, named Masgak was granted a political asylum and went to the United States.
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