An unidentified North Korean man in the south crossed the fortified land border, separated the two North Koreans and was in custody in South Korea.
The military identified and tracked individuals near the central area of the military demarcation line and conducted “guidance operations” before detaining the person Thursday night, the Chief of Staff said.
It said authorities planned to investigate border crossings and did not immediately say whether they saw the incident as defectors.
The United Leader said that the incident had been notified by the United States-led UN Command and no signs of abnormal military activity were found in the north.
According to the joint leader, a South Korean army discovered his North Koreans and, after identifying himself as a South Korean unit, took his armed soldiers safely out of the mines, eliminating the two separate areas of North Korea.
Border tensions have erupted in recent months as two North Korea traded Cold War-style psychological warfare, which sent thousands of garbage-filled balloons to the south and South Korea to explode anti-Pongyang propaganda through speakers.
Since taking office last month, South Korea's new Liberal President Lee Jae Myung has worked to rebuild trust with North Korea, stop frontline speaker broadcasts and move to flying balloons that ban militants and bring publicity leaflets to the border.
In April, South Korean troops launched a warning shooting to repel about 10 North Korean soldiers who briefly crossed the military dividing line. The Southern Army said the soldiers had no accidents to return to North Korean territory and no fires returned to the north.
Last June, North Korean troops crossed the border three times, prompting South Korea to launch a warning. Experts believe these crossings may have been accidental as North Korean forces added anti-tank barriers, planted mines and other work was carried out to strengthen border defenses amid rising tensions between North Korea.
Since the denuclearization negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang collapsed in 2019, diplomacy between North Korea in the war-wide has derailed, prompting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to accelerate the expansion of his military nuclear program and threaten Washington and Yuer. South Korea's former Conservative government responded by strengthening joint military exercises with the United States and Japan, and the North condemned it as a rehearsal of the invasion.
