South Korea's Defence Ministry confirmed on Monday that a high-ranking North Korean military intelligence officer, who worked at the North's reconnaissance bureau tasked with carrying out espionage missions against the South, defected to South Korea last year.

"(The North Korean military official's defection) is a fact, but we cannot make public detailed information (about him)," Moon Sang-gyun, a ministry spokesman, said at a regular press briefing, according to Yonhap.