South Korea says a high-ranking North Korean military officer defected to the South last year.
The announcement was made Monday in Seoul by the South's ministries of Defense and Unification. The unidentified officer is a senior colonel who worked in North Korea's General Reconnaissance Bureau, making him the highest-ranked officer known to defect from the authoritarian regime.
The bureau conducts espionage activities against Seoul, including cyberattacks. The agency is also blamed for the 2010 torpedo attack against a South Korean naval ship, killing 46 sailors; an act Pyongyang has denied.
Last year, a North Korean diplomat stationed in an African country defected with his family to the South.