Update | China detains suspected North Korean defector after robbery-killing spree

A suspected North Korean army deserter has been detained in China after killing four Chinese during a robbery in the border city of Helong, Yonhap News Agency reported today.

The suspected runaway soldier reportedly crossed the border into China in search of food. He stole money and food at a house before killing four residents.

The incident occurred on December 28 just across the Tumen River dividing China and North Korea, the report quoted unidentified sources as saying.

The victims were either shot dead or beaten to death, Dong-A Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper, adding he was later shot and captured by Chinese authorities.

“Killing several Chinese nationals ... is a major crime, so there are good possibilities that China, unlike other runaway North Korean soldiers captured before, will not hand him over to the North,” said an unnamed Seoul official quoted by Yonhap.

China said on Monday it had lodged a protest with Pyongyang after detaining the suspected killer. Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular briefing in Beijing that China “would handle the matter in accordance with the law”.

All able-bodied young men in the North are subject to 10 years of military service. Many army bases are known to suffer food shortage and starving troops often cross the border to China in search of food.