S.Korean soldiers stand at the southern side of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, S.Korea. Lee Jin-man/Reuters

Gulf Today Report

South Korean troops captured a North Korean man who crossed the heavily fortified border with North in a potential defection to the South.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff member said the man was found about 9:50am on the eastern end of the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas. He also added that there was no unusual movement among North Korean troops.

“An investigation is planned to find out details about the man, including how he had come down and whether he wished to defect,” the JCS said in a statement.

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The man, whose identity was withheld, was captured about 10 hours after he crossed the border in the eastern county of Goseong late on Tuesday.

The person was first spotted crossing barbed wire fences installed along the border at 7:26pm on Tuesday (1026 GMT), the News1 agency reported, citing an unnamed military source.

A South Korean soldier stands on the foot bridge in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on Wednesday. AFP

His crossing was detected on the South's surveillance equipment, prompting the military to launch extensive search operations.

The Yonhap news agency said that the military had issued a “Jindotgae” anti-infiltration alert for the eastern border area, and that the man had expressed a willingness to defect.

Earlier Wednesday, the military said South Korea’s surveillance equipment spotted an unidentified person on the eastern section of the land border and launched a search operation. Hours later, it said the military "safely” took custody of the man.

The JCS said in a statement that, "Our military safely captured the man at around 9:50 a.m. In coordination with related authorities, we will carry out investigation into the man, including how he crossed the border and if he has the intention to defect to the South."

"No unusual moves by the North Korean military have been detected," the military added.

It is not immediately known if he is a soldier or a civilian, though officials said he did not wear a military uniform.

More than 30,000 North Koreans have fled to South Korea in the past two decades, mostly via China, but a small number of North Koreans still occasionally escape through the land border. At the height of Cold War rivalry, both Koreas routinely sent agents and spies to each other’s territory through the border, but no such incident have been reported in recent years.

South Korea's media reported the military boosted its anti-infiltration readiness level in the eastern front-line area on Wednesday, but the Defense Ministry said it couldn’t confirm the report.