South Korea's military has fired warning shots at North Korean guards searching for a soldier who defected.
North Korean soldiers staring at the South side at the truce village of Panmunjom in the DMZ on November 27. Photo: AFP
The North Korean soldier, thought to be 19 years old, walked across the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) shortly after 8am local time yesterday.
He is the fourth North Korean soldier to defect this year and emerged from thick fog at a checkpoint, the South Korean military said.
The Korea Herald reported he was carrying an AK-47 rifle, citing the military. No gunfire was exchanged at the time.
Spokesman Roh Jae-cheon for South Korea's joint chiefs of staff said the fog had limited visibility to about 100m, but as the North Korean soldier approached the post, his movements were picked up on surveillance equipment.
He said the defector was taken into custody and was "safely secured". Authorities are now investigating what drove him to make the crossing.
But shortly after the defection, a group of border guards from the North approached the border appearing to search for their comrade, according to South Korea's defence ministry. South Korean soldiers fired about 20 warning shots.
Officials said the sound of gunshots coming from the North was heard about 40 minutes later, although no bullets were found to have crossed the border.
Very few North Korean defectors risk crossing to the South via the DMZ, but the incident comes just weeks after one of the most dramatic defections in recent times.
That soldier drove a jeep right up to the border, fleeing across to the southern side of the Joint Security Area (JSA) in the village of Panmunjom on 13 November in a dramatic escape captured on surveillance cameras.
He ran across to the South in a hail of bullets from North Korean guards. Shot five times, he collapsed in a pile of leaves on the South's side and was later rescued by South Korean soldiers.
His recovery was closely tracked by South Korean media. He was released from intensive care and is reported to have written a thank-you note to the doctors who treated him.
Two other North Korean soldiers defected via the DMZ in June this year in separate incidents. Only one soldier defected last year.
One of the world's most heavily guarded strips of land, the DMZ is a thin buffer zone between the two Koreas and is fortified on both sides with barbed wire, surveillance cameras, electric fencing and landmines.
The total number of North Koreans who directly defected to the South has also risen to 15 this year, compared to five last year, according to official figures reported by Yonhap news agency.
Hundreds more defect through China, before making their way to the South.
In a separate announcement on Thursday, South Korea's unification ministry said two defecting North Koreans had been found on a fishing boat in the South's waters.
- BBC
