Seoul - In a rare incident, a man from South Korea has defected to the communist North, traversing the heavily fortified demilitarized zone (DMZ), it was reported Tuesday. North Korea's official news agency KCNA identified the man as Kang Dong Lim, 30, who defected on Monday and "is now under the warm care" of the relevant North Korean authorities.
"He is pleased with the accomplishment of his desire for defection," the KCNA report said.
KCNA said that Kang, during his military duty for South Korea, had already attempted on a few occasions to defect. It said that he last had worked in the semi-conductor division of the Samsung company.
In Seoul, military officials said they were investigating.
While the number of North Koreans fleeing to South Korea has substantially increased in recent years, cases of people defecting from the south to the north are a rarity.
Last month, a 54-year-old South Koran man was served a suspended sentence after his foild attempt to get to North Korea by entering the North Korean diplomatic representation in China.
The two Koreas are still formally in a state of war since they have yet to conclude a peace treaty following the 1950-1953 conflict on the peninsula.
