Il Nuovo Postiglione - North Korean soldier held by Seoul after crossing land border

The soldier was seeking to "to defect to the South", a defence ministry official told AFP.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans have fled to South Korea since the peninsula was divided by war in the 1950s, with most going overland to neighbouring China first, then entering a third country such as Thailand before finally making it to the South.

Defections across the land border that divides the peninsula are relatively rare, as the area is densely forested, ridden with landmines and monitored by soldiers on both sides.

"Our military secured the custody of one North Korean soldier who crossed the military demarcation line (MDL) in the central front on Sunday," South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

"The military identified the individual near the MDL, tracked and monitored him, and conducted a standard guidance operation to take him into custody," it said.

The MDL runs through the middle of the Demilitarised Zone -- the border area separating the two Koreas, which is one of the most heavily mined places on earth.

"The soldier's likely familiarity with the area may have helped him navigate the heavily mined terrain," Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP.

"The latest crossing will not be received positively by Pyongyang, as he could provide the South with information on its troop movements and operations in the border area," added the analyst.

-34,000 defectors-

North Koreans are typically handed over to Seoul's intelligence agency for screening when they arrive in the South.

The South's military said relevant authorities would investigate the details of Sunday's crossing.

The incident came months after a North Korean civilian made it across the land border with help from the South's military in a delicate 20-hour operation.

In August last year a North Korean soldier defected to the South by crossing the MDL.

More than 34,000 North Koreans have escaped the isolated country to the South, according to data from the Unification Ministry.

Last year, 236 North Koreans arrived in the South, with women accounting for 88 percent of the total.

Pyongyang uses harsh words such as "human scum" to describe citizens who have escaped.

The two Koreas technically remain at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung, who took office in June, has vowed a more dovish approach towards Pyongyang compared with his hawkish predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol.

Lee vowed in September at the United Nations to work to end the "vicious cycle" of tensions with the North as he promised not to seek regime change.

C.Albano--INP