Government officials in Pyongyang say that a senior North Korean army general defected to South Korea in 2015.
The general has not been identified, though Seoul claims that he was an intelligence officer in the Reconnaissance General Bureau. He is believed to have been accused of spying for South Korea prior to his defection.
Over 28,000 North Koreans have fled since the Korean War ended in 1953, but the BBC reports that the general is believed to be the highest-level North Korean official to have ever defected.