another incident occurred on november 23, 1984, when a soviet tourist, who was part of an official trip to the jsa (hosted by the north), ran across the military demarcation line (mdl) shouting that he wanted to defect. north korean troops immediately chased after him opening fire. border guards on the south korean side returned fire eventually surrounding the north koreans as they pursued the russian national. one south korean and three north korean soldiers were killed in the action. the defector was not captured.