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South Korea’s military said a North Korean soldier crossed the central section of the heavily fortified border on Sunday and was taken into custody after expressing a desire to resettle in South Korea. It’s the first reported defection by a North Korean soldier since an August 2024 crossing on the eastern side. Such escapes across the 248-kilometer Demilitarized Zone are rare, lined with mines, tank traps, barbed wire and troops—where, in 2017, North Korean soldiers fired about 40 shots at a fleeing soldier. Most of roughly 34,000 arrivals have come via China.

Prepared by Rachel Morgan and reviewed by editorial team.