One soldier from North Korea has been taken into custody by South Korea after crossing the heavily fortified border earlier this week, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said on Wednesday, News.Az reports, citing Yonhap.
“The military secured custody of one North Korean soldier in the central front Tuesday night and relevant authorities are currently investigating the details,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a message to media, without providing further details.
The soldier is reported to have expressed an intent to defect.
The latest case marks the fourth such border crossing by a North Korean since the launch of the administration of Lee Jae-myung in June last year.
In October, a North Korean staff sergeant seeking defection crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) separating the two Koreas by walking southward along a path on the east coast.
The previous two cases occurred in July and involved civilians. One individual crossed the central frontline into the South, while the other was rescued on the southern side of the Han River estuary on the western side of the inter-Korean border.