The North Korean soldier who defected to the South across the heavily armed border on Saturday is in his late teens or early 20s. Yonhap

The North Korean soldier, who defected to the South across the heavily armed border on Saturday, is in his late teens or early 20s, a government source said.

The soldier crossed the eastern land border into the South on Saturday morning. The crossing took place near a South Korean guard post in Goseong of Gangwon Province, northeast of Seoul, the source said.

Further details about the soldier were not available.

Under a military deal signed during September's inter-Korean summit, the two Koreas agreed to dismantle 11 border guard posts each to reduce tensions, but they later agreed to keep one of them each. The Goseong guard post is the one that the South decided to keep.

Saturday's defection marked the first time a North Korean soldier defected across the land border since another soldier crossed the central western border on Dec. 21 last year. (Yonhap)