A NORTH Korean army officer has defected to South Korea across the heavily fortified border.
A spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the incident took place yesterday and the man was being questioned by investigators. He gave no other details.
Yonhap news agency said it was the first defection in nearly a decade across the inter-Korean border, which is reinforced by barbed wire and minefields along most of it.
It said the 28-year-old lieutenant crossed near the truce village of Panmunjom and asked for asylum.
Most refugees from the hardline communist North cross into China and then try to travel on to third countries, from where they seek resettlement in South Korea or elsewhere.
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