Seoul: One North Korean soldier has been taken into South Korean custody after crossing the heavily fortified border earlier this week, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Wednesday, in what is believed to be a defection from the North.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the JCS reported that the military secured custody of one North Korean soldier in the central front Tuesday night, and relevant authorities are currently investigating the details. The JCS did not provide further information, but it is noted that the soldier has expressed an intent to defect.

This incident marks the fourth such border crossing by a North Korean since the launch of the Lee Jae Myung administration in June last year. In a similar case in October, a North Korean staff sergeant seeking defection crossed the Military Demarcation Line separating the two Koreas by walking southward along the east coast.

The previous two cases in July involved civilians. One civilian crossed the central frontline into the South, while the other was rescued on the southern side of the Han River estuary, located west of the inter-Korean border.