North Korea claims it arrested a South Korean spy of the National Intelligence Service.
 
In an interview with the Korean Central News Agency on Thursday, the North's State Security Department spokesman said a South Korean spy was arrested after infiltrating the North.
 
The spokesman said a state agency recently caught an unidentified person in Pyongyang and discovered that person was a South Korean who secretly entered the North from a third country.
 
The spokesman said the South Korean engaged in anti-North Korea espionage activities in nearby countries over the past six years under the guise of spreading religion.
 
The spokesman claimed the spy joined forces with rebellious figures within the North and reached as far as Pyongyang with the aim of destabilizing North Korean society. 
 
An official at Seoul's National Intelligence Service flatly denied the claim, saying it is completely absurd.