South Korea fires warning shots at North Korea after soldier defects at border

Troops spotted 19-year-old at Demilitarised Zone guard post amid thick fog

Soldiers from the South man their post along the barbed wire fence inside the DMZ that divides the two Koreas (Getty)

A North Korean soldier fled to South Korea at the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) followed by gunfire from both sides, Seoul has said.

The soldier was spotted in front of a South Korean guard post on Thursday morning amid thick fog, according to state news agency Yonhap.

According to a South Korean joint chiefs of staff spokesperson, the North’s border guards came looking for the defector more than an hour later and approached the military demarcation line (MDL) – the land border between the two countries – before South Korean soldiers fired 20 warning shots from a K-3.

There was also the sound of gunshots from the North, but no bullets were found to have crossed the border, he added.

The defector was identified as a 19-year-old man who was carrying an AK rifle at the time of his escape. The guard post was located in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province.

The man is now in custody and is likely to be questioned over the reasons behind his decision to flee.

It is the second defection across the heavily guarded border in less than two months. Another North Korean soldier was shot multiple times by comrades after he launched a dramatic escape on 13 November.

According to the South Korean Ministry of Unification, the number of North Koreans who attempted to defect dropped by more than 10 per cent in the first part of 2017, compared to 2016.