An unidentified North Korean man crossed the heavily fortified land border separating the two Koreas and is in South Korean custody, the South’s military said Friday. The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military identified and tracked the individual near the central-west section of the military demarcation line and conducted a “guiding operation” before taking the person into custody Thursday night.

A North Korean man who identified himself as a civilian crossed the heavily fortified military demarcation line between the two Koreas and was taken into custody, the South's military said Friday.

The mission to safely guide the man to the South involved a considerable number of South Korean troops and took around 20 hours