Seoul says North Korean soldier crosses the border to defect

Military guard posts of North Korea, rear, and South Korea, bottom, are seen in Paju, at the border with North Korea, South Korea, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016. South Korea's military said Thursday that a North Korean soldier had crossed the border between the rivals to defect. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (The Associated Press)

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Visitors use binoculars to view the North Korean territory, at the unification observation in Paju, near the border with North Korea, South Korea, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016. South Korea's military said Thursday that a North Korean soldier had crossed the border between the rivals to defect. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (The Associated Press)

A hilltop North Korean military guard post in North Korea's Kaepoong is seen over the border from an observatory in Paju, South Korea, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016. South Korea's military said Thursday that a North Korean soldier had crossed the border between the rivals to defect. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) (The Associated Press)

SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea's military says a North Korean soldier has crossed the border between rivals to defect to the South.

South Korea's Joint Chief of Staff said that military officials were investigating the North Korean solider who crossed the military demarcation line Thursday inside the 4-kilometer-wide (2.5-mile-wide) Demilitarized Zone that separates the countries.

The military provided no other details.

The Koreas have shared the world's most heavily fortified border since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. The conflict ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving the Korean Peninsula in a technical state of war.