North Korean soldier crosses heavily fortified border into South

North Korean soldiers install barbed-wire fences in border areas in March. Courtesy of Joint Chiefs of Staff

A North Korean soldier has been taken into custody after crossing the heavily fortified border Sunday, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, in the first known defection of a North Korean soldier since the Lee Jae Myung government came into power.

"The military on Sunday secured the custody of one North Korean soldier who crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) in the central section of the border," the JCS said.

South Korean troops detected and tracked the soldier to conduct normally an operation to help the individual arrive in the South, with relevant authorities set to investigate the motive and how the defection took place.

"No unusual movements by the North Korean military have been detected so far," the JCS said.

The latest defection marks the third such case since June, when the Lee government was elected. The previous two cases involving civilians both occurred in July.

The last known defection of a North Korean soldier into South Korea took place in August last year, when a staff sergeant crossed the MDL by walking southward through a path along the east coast.

A total of 236 North Koreans defected to South Korea last year, with only three of them crossing the inter-Korean border, according to a unification ministry official.