(Photo: Jeon Heon-kyun/EPA)

The demilitarized zone between North and South Korea is nothing to shake a machine gun at. In addition to the barbed wire and armed guards at either side of the DMZ, North Korea has placed land mines on its side of the zone to discourage defections. As insidious as it is, this strategy is working. Thousands of North Koreans defect every year through Chinese channels, but very few risk crossing the DMZ.

Sometimes, a fearless individual will risk life and limb to find freedom. On Monday morning, a teenaged soldier trudged across the DMZ to defect to South Korea. Guards allowed the soldier to pass through the barrier, where he is now being held for questioning while officials confirmed his identity.

The DMZ hasn’t been successfully crossed since 2012.