UpdateSouth Korean soldier who killed five captured alive after shooting himself

A South Korean military conscript who killed five members of his unit was captured on Monday after shooting himself in the side following a stand-off with thousands of troops, the defence ministry said.

“He shot himself in the side and we have captured him alive,” a ministry spokesman said, adding that the 22-year-old sergeant had been taken to hospital.

Thousands of soldiers backed by special forces units and army helicopters had surrounded the conscript, identified by his family name Lim, after he was tracked down on Sunday afternoon to a forested area south of the heavily militarised frontier with North Korea.

Armed with a K-2 assault rifle and a stash of ammunition, Lim went on the run on Saturday night after killing five fellow soldiers and wounding seven others at a frontline border outpost.

Prior to turning his gun on himself, Lim had spoken via a mobile phone with his parents who had urged him to surrender.

An army officer who requested anonymity told Yonhap news agency that Lim had been in tears when he asked troops to hand the phone over to his father.