Paju, Oct 1 (IANS): A North Korean defector was taken into custody early on Tuesday for attempting to cross a bridge near the border with North Korea using a stolen bus, police officials said.

The man in his 30s was apprehended by police at about 1:30 a.m. (local time) after trying to return to North Korea by crossing the Tongil Bridge in Paju, some 30 kilometres northwest of Seoul, with the bus he stole from a garage in the city, according to the Paju Police Station, Yonhap news agency reported.

The man rammed into a barricade on the bridge, despite warnings from soldiers guarding the bridge, just south of the Demilitarised Zone separating the two Koreas, before being caught.

He told police that he tried to return to North Korea after experiencing difficulties in South Korea. He defected more than a decade ago and recently had been living in Sillim-dong, southwestern Seoul. His current residence is unknown.

He was found not to have been under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the incident.

The police have booked the man for an investigation.

South Korea is home to more than 34,000 North Korean defectors, and the flow of defectors continues amid chronic food shortages and harsh political oppression in North Korea.