{"id":14908,"date":"2026-06-24T11:19:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T11:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?p=14908"},"modified":"2026-06-24T11:19:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T11:19:12","slug":"north-korean-soldier-crosses-border-in-suspected-defection-south-korean-news-agency-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?p=14908","title":{"rendered":"North Korean soldier crosses border in suspected defection, South Korean news agency says"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n
\n <\/p>\n
\n

South Korea took a soldier from the North into custody after the individual crossed the heavily fortified border this week in what is believed to be a defection, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported Wednesday.<\/p>\n

“The military secured one North Korean<\/span> soldier in the central front Tuesday night and relevant authorities are currently investigating the details,” Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a message to the media, according to Yonhap.<\/p>\n

Tens of thousands of North Koreans have fled to South Korea since the peninsula was divided by war in the 1950s. The last time a North Korean soldier made the daring move<\/span> was October 2025.<\/p>\n

Most go overland to neighboring China first, then enter a third country such as Thailand before finally making it to the South.<\/p>\n

Defections across the land border that divides the peninsula are relatively rare, as the area is densely forested, ridden with landmines and monitored by soldiers on both sides.<\/p>\n

\n

\"SKOREA-NKOREA-POLITICS<\/span>

\n

South Korean soldiers patrol along a barbed wire fence Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating North and South Korea, on the South Korean island of Ganghwa, in a April 23, 2020 file photo.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

ED JONES\/AFP\/Getty<\/p>\n

<\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

North Koreans are typically handed over to Seoul’s intelligence agency for screening after arriving in the South.<\/p>\n

More than 34,000 North Koreans have escaped the isolated country to the South, according to data from the Unification Ministry.<\/p>\n

In 2024, 236 North Koreans arrived in South Korea, with women accounting for 88 percent of the total.<\/p>\n

Pyongyang uses harsh words such as “human scum” to describe citizens who escape.<\/p>\n

\n<\/section>\n

<\/p>\n