 A South Korean has crossed the heavily fortified border in a rare defection to North Korea, the military said on Sunday. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said it carried out a search operation after detecting the person around 9.20 p.m. on Saturday, that's 1st of January, on the eastern side of the demilitarized zone, separating the two Koreas. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said that they confirmed that the person crossed the military, demarcation line border about 10.40 p.m. and defected to the North. It could not confirm whether the person was alive, but sent a notice to the North via a military hotline asking for protection. The border crossing, which is illegal in South Korea, came as North Korea carries out strict anti-coronavirus measures since shutting borders in early 2020, though it has not confirmed any infections.