South Korean troops have surrounded a soldier who fled his border outpost after killing five of his comrades Saturday.
South Korean military authorities say they are trying to persuade the soldier to surrender. They said one platoon leader was wounded when the runaway soldier, identified only by his surname Yim, fired on the military personnel closing in on him.
Yim had opened fire with his standard issue K2 assault rifle at an outpost near the North Korean border in Gangwon province, east of Seoul. In addition to the five dead soldiers he wounded seven others.
Thousands of troops from the rival Koreas are squared off along the world's most heavily armed border.
There is no indication North Korea is involved.