The Latest: S. Korea fires shots after North soldier defects

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - The Latest on a North Korean soldier's defection to South Korea (all times local):

11:25 a.m.

South Korea says it has fired 20 rounds of warning shots as North Korean soldiers approached a military demarcation line at the border after their comrade defected to South Korea.

Seoul's Defense Ministry says the shootout happened after a North Korean soldier safely arrived at a front-line South Korean guard post on Thursday.

Yonhap news agency says there were sounds of gunfire from the North after South Korea's warning shots. South Korea's Defense Ministry couldn't immediately confirm the report.

North Korean soldiers have occasionally fled through the land border. Thursday's defection came nearly 40 days after another North Korean soldier crossed the jointly controlled area at the border amid a barrage of bullets fired by comrades. He was shot multiple times and remains hospitalized in South Korea.