South Korean Crosses Armed Border in Rare Defection to North

A man stands near binoculars as he tries to see North Korea's propaganda village of Gijungdong at the Dora observatory near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Paju, South Korea, on April 24, 2018. Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters

SEOUL—A South Korean has crossed the heavily fortified border in a rare defection to North Korea, South Korea’s military said on Sunday.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it carried out a search operation after detecting the person around 9:20 p.m. (7:20 ET) on Saturday on the eastern side of the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas.