South Korea's spy agency says a North Korean soldier has defected to South Korea through the heavily fortified border dividing the two countries, the Associated Press reported.
The National Intelligence Service said Tuesday the soldier approached a South Korean guard post in a central part of the Demilitarized Zone asking for asylum in the South.
The spy agency says the soldier told South Korean officials he decided to defect because of frustrations with North Korean society and concerns about his future in the communist country.
The agency says the soldier remains under investigation and declined to identify his name, rank and the date of his defection.
It would be the second defection in a decade across the border. A North Korean officer defected to the South through the DMZ in April.