ASTONISHING:London-based North Korea soldier crawled on his belly to freedom for FOUR days

In an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk, the courageous soldier told of the nerve-shattering 100 hours he spent on his belly inching toward the Tumen River, the border between North Korea and China. 

He said due to his status as a high-ranking soldier in despot Kim Jong-un’s army it was a case of “I defect or I die” – with certain execution awaiting him if he got caught. 

Mr Kim said he had spent eight years wrestling with the prospect of escape before finally fleeing the hermit state in 2005. 

He said his years in North Korea’s starving and cruel army had left him no choice but to escape. 

Speaking from his Free NK newspaper office in New Malden, Surrey, Mr Kim said the only thing that had stopped him was the fate of his family. 

In North Korea the families of defectors are punished in an attempt to deter people from escaping. 

He said: “My biggest worry was my family because if I left someone behind they could be punished for my decision. 

“I made up my mind several times over the eight years [in the army] but when I saw my parents’ faces I was not able to act because I knew what I was going to leave behind, how they were going to be punished.”

Also haunting Mr Kim was the prospect of being caught trying to cross the border – something which would result in a show trial and execution for a high-ranking soldier like himself. 

He said: “If one soldier crosses the border in the DMZ an emergency meeting is held within three minutes. 

“But I was not just a lower ranking soldier but a higher-ranking officer. It was much more serious.

“There was only one way: I defect or I die. I risked my life. If I was caught, I would have gone straight to military court and been executed.”

His escape itself was terrifying and border guards came incredibly close to catching Mr Kim as he crossed the Tumen River, which acts as the border with China. 

He spent four days creeping towards the river, hiding during the day and waiting for sufficient cloud cover to block out the light of the full moon at night.

Eventually he was rewarded. Mr Kim swam down the river until morning before believing it was finally safe to cross to the other side. 

At that point, however, guards rushed to the scene and he was forced to hide once more .

He said: “Soldiers were pointing guns at the riverside. I couldn’t stand up or make noise. 

“The river bank was spread with pebbles so I couldn’t walk because of the noise. I took off my coat and spread it on the pebbles and crawled, inch by inch.”

After making it across the river, which acts as a border with China, he was still not safe. Cruel Chinese authorities return any defectors they discover, so Mr Kim had to avoid busy areas while making his way towards south-east Asia, where it is easier to gain asylum. 

He said his fears about North Korea were realised during his first day in China. 

Mr Kim said: “After I crossed to the Chinese side I went straight up to the mountain because I couldn’t be seen by Chinese people because I was wearing North Korean clothes. 

“By the time I went up to the peak I saw the difference between North Korea and China because they were distinctly different in the light. 

“The North Korean side was completely dark. China, even the rural towns, was bright with electricity. 

“After the sun came up I saw the mountain was actually an apple farm with lots and lots of apples, big apples, just hanging in the tree. Some were even rotting on the ground. 

“This could not happen in North Korea. Everyone was so starving they had to eat apples, even rotten or unripe ones. People ate it for meals. The apples [in China] were rotting on the ground. I was really angry.”

As for his family, Mr Kim attempted to reach them after arriving in the UK some years after his escape. 

He said: “After I came to the UK I made contact through a broker. I learned my brother, who had been a general, was demoted and sent to a remote area. Generals in my own unit were also sent to other areas.”

As for his parents, he said he “couldn’t find out if they were alive or dead”. 

This anguish, along with physical scars and haunting memories, is the price all North Korean defectors pay for freedom. 

READ MORE: North Korea facts