S. Korea Says Gear of Pilot Who Defected Indicates Poverty in the North

The North Korean defector wore cotton cloth for lack of socks, a helmet made before he was born and a track suit to warm himself in the unheated jet fighter he flew across the heavily armed border to South Korea.

South Korean officials held up the pilot’s worn-out clothing and old equipment Saturday as evidence of their rival’s economic straits. Before a bank of cameras, the Defense Ministry displayed 58 personal belongings of Capt. Lee Chul Soo, 30, who defected Thursday.

“Fighter pilots are a privileged class in the North. The fact that the North cannot issue socks to them shows how bad its economic situation is,” a ministry spokesman told reporters.

He held up pieces of cotton cloth that Lee wore in place of socks inside his pigskin boots. Footprints were visible on the beige patches.

Lee’s pilot helmet was at least 30 years old, and his side-arm holster and belt were worn out in spots--indicating that North Korean authorities reissued used items to pilots and other officers.

He wore a track suit under his uniform as underwear to keep warm in his MIG-19, which was built in the 1950s and has no heater.

Lee left a wife, a son, 5, and a daughter, 3, in the North. Among his belongings was a black-and-white family photo. On a corner of the photo was an inscription that read: “Etched into eternal memories.”

South Korean officials said North Korea usually sends family members of defectors to labor camps.

The pilot earlier said he planned to defect to the South in early May but had to delay the plan because fuel shortages grounded many planes.

Lee was the first North Korean pilot to defect in 13 years.

Meanwhile, four South Korean civil defense officials were arrested Saturday for failing to sound air raid sirens in the capital, Seoul, when Lee flew his jet into South Korea.

The jet’s flight across the heavily armed border set off sirens in Inchon and elsewhere along its route, but in Seoul, home to a quarter of South Korea’s 45 million people, an automatic switch for the sirens had been turned off, and operators ignored messages warning of the jet’s approach.

The official in charge of Seoul’s air raid alarm systems and three others were accused of negligence of duties, prosecutors said. Two lower-ranking technicians are also expected to be charged.

Their arrests came after President Kim Young Sam ordered an investigation and punishment for those responsible. If convicted, they face up to a year in prison.

In the past two years, more than 100 North Koreans have defected, complaining of severe food shortages and other hardships in the reclusive Communist state.

Last year’s flooding has apparently pushed North Korea to the brink of famine, forcing it to request food aid from the international community it normally spurns.