Seoul, Aug 1 (IANS): A North Korean soldier crossed the inter-Korean border and said he wanted to defect to the neighbouring country, authorities said on Thursday.

Around 11.38 p.m. on Wednesday, South Korean thermal observation devices detected a man moving along the Imjin river after crossing the military demarcation line in the central Demilitarized Zone.

After confirming it was a person, the South Korean military detained the man according to protocol and without incident, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, Yonhap news agency reported.

"The man is an active-duty soldier and he expressed his desire to defect to the South. Related procedures are underway," a JCS officer said.

The last such event occurred in December 2018 when a North Korean soldier fled to the South, crossing the inter-Korean border in the east.

According to government data, defections from North Korea to South Korea increased by 12 per cent in the first half of 2019.