The South Korean military has reported that a North Korean soldier defected to South Korea after crossing the inter-Korean border in the eastern county of Goseong, Gangwon Province, early Tuesday.

A military official said the soldier crossed the Military Demarcation Line(MDL) within the Demilitarized Zone and expressed an intent to defect to South Korea.

The official added that the South Korean military tracked and monitored the soldier from the moment the person crossed the MDL in the eastern front and took the individual into custody. 

The soldier, reportedly a staff sergeant, entered South Korean territory overseen by the Army's 22nd Division in Goseong, near the inter-Korean border.

The military handed the soldier over to the relevant authorities to begin an investigation into the defection.

The defection comes about two weeks after a North Korean citizen defected to the South by crossing the neutral zone of the Han River estuary.