By Jun Ji-hye
A North Korean solider defected to South Korea, Monday, across the inter-Korean border, according to the Ministry of National Defense.
“A North Korean soldier defected to our side at around 8 a.m.,” a ministry official told reporters on condition of anonymity. “He crossed the border in Hwacheon, Gangwon Province, on foot, and arrived at one of our guard posts. He then expressed his wish to defect.”
The official noted that the man is 19 years old.
The man was quoted as saying by the ministry that he decided to defect because of habitual beatings by superiors and dissatisfaction with the repressive state. The ministry said other details will be disclosed later as the investigation continues.
Tension between South and North Korean soldiers was raised over the course of securing the defector, but no gunfire took place, the official noted.
No other unusual movements by the military of the reclusive state have been detected, he added.
The defection of a North Korean soldier through the demilitarized zone is the first since October 2012 when a controversial “knock-knock defection" incident occurred at an eastern front-line Army unit ― South Korean soldiers on duty there were unaware of a North Korean defector until he knocked on the door of their barracks.
Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye