SEOUL: A North Korean soldier who crossed the heavily fortified land border into South Korea on Sunday has been taken into custody by Seoul’s military.
“Our military secured the custody of one North Korean soldier who crossed the military demarcation line in the central front on Sunday,“ South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
The military identified the individual near the MDL, tracked and monitored him, and conducted a standard guidance operation to take him into custody.
Yonhap news agency had earlier reported that the North Korean soldier had defected to the South after making it across the land border.
The MDL runs through the middle of the Demilitarised Zone, the border area separating the two Koreas, which is one of the most heavily mined places on earth.
Tens of thousands of North Koreans have fled to South Korea since the peninsula was divided by war in the 1950s.
Most go overland to neighbouring China first, then enter a third country such as Thailand before finally making it to the South.
Defections across the land border that divides the peninsula are relatively rare.
The area is densely forested and monitored by soldiers on both sides.
In April a North Korean civilian crossed the land border, aided by the South’s military in a delicate 20-hour operation.
In August last year a North Korean soldier defected to the South by crossing the MDL.
North Koreans are typically handed over to Seoul’s intelligence agency for screening when they arrive in the South.
The South’s military said relevant authorities would investigate the details of Sunday’s crossing. – AFP
