Seoul: A North Korean soldier has been taken into custody after crossing the heavily fortified border Sunday, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, marking the first known defection of a North Korean soldier since the Lee Jae Myung government came into power.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the military secured the custody of the soldier who crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) in the central section of the border. South Korean troops detected and tracked the soldier, conducting an operation to facilitate the individual’s arrival in the South. Relevant authorities are set to investigate the motive and circumstances surrounding the defection.

The JCS reported no unusual movements by the North Korean military following the incident. This defection is the third of its kind since the election of the Lee government, with the previous two cases involving civilians occurring in July.

The last known defection of a North Korean soldier into South Korea took place in August of the previous year when a staff sergeant crossed the MDL along the east coast. In total, 236 North Koreans defected to South Korea last year, with only three crossing the inter-Korean border, as noted by a unification ministry official.