Jul 18, 2023 at 1:15 03
Updated 1 hour ago
A US soldier is being held in North Korea after crossing the border without permission. The information was confirmed by a Pentagon spokesman.
“A US soldier intentionally and without authorization crossed the military demarcation line into the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) during an orientation tour of the Common Security Zone. We understand he is currently in DPRK custody and we are working with our colleagues in the Korean People’s Army to investigate this incident.”
The US soldier has been identified as Private 2nd Class Travis King, officials told CBS News, the BBC’s US affiliate.
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The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea is considered one of the most dangerous places in the world
An official told CBS that the soldier was being escorted out of the country for disciplinary reasons and cleared airport security but managed to exit the terminal and join a border patrol.
A third source, a defense official, later told CBS that the soldier crossed the border “voluntarily.” His motive is still unclear.
A witness who was part of the same tour group told CBS that the soldier laughed before running to North Korea.
“At first I thought it was a bad joke, but when he didn’t come back I realized it wasn’t a joke,” the witness said.
It is still unclear what the soldier’s motivations would be.
He crossed the border ‘voluntarily’
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said it was clear the soldier crossed the border “voluntarily, of his own free will” and without permission, but did not say whether it was a matter of desertion.
He also said that while the State Department had no contact with North Korea, it assumed the Pentagon had had contact.
Miller said he was not aware of any US government contact with China “at this time.”
According to him, the Ministry of Defense is taking the lead in this matter.
Muller added that the State Department will not hesitate to take action if there is any action.
When asked by a reporter if the American soldier defected to North Korea, Miller replied, “I will just say, as I said at the beginning, that it is clear that he crossed the border voluntarily and of his own free will.”
US officials said the matter is still under investigation.
demilitarized zone
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US soldier ‘voluntarily’ crossed border, US officials say
The Demilitarized Zone, where the American soldier was previously stationed, separates the two Koreas and is one of the most heavily fortified areas in the world.
The site is riddled with land mines and is also surrounded by electric and barbed wire fences and surveillance cameras. Armed guards are on alert 24 hours a day.
The Demilitarized Zone has separated the two countries since the Korean War in the 1950s, during which the United States supported the southern government.
The war ended in a truce, meaning the two sides are technically still at war.
Dozens of people try to flee North Korea each year to escape poverty and hunger, but exodus in the area is extremely dangerous and rare.
North Korea closed its borders in 2020, at the beginning of the Covid pandemic, and has not yet reopened them.
The last time a soldier left the Joint Security Zone was in 2017, when a North Korean soldier drove a vehicle and crossed the military demarcation line on foot, South Korea reported at the time.
The soldier was shot 40 times but survived.
According to the South Korean government, more than 1,000 people have fled North Korea to China each year to escape the pandemic.
The US soldier, who holds the rank of private, is believed to be the only US citizen currently in North Korean custody.
Six South Koreans remain detained there.
A problem for Biden
This incident complicates US President Joe Biden’s government relations with the North Korean government.
“The possibility that the individual is a US serviceman will only make a negotiated release more difficult,” said Anthony Zurcher, the BBC’s North America correspondent.
“Unless Biden finds a quick fix, his political opponents will cite this case as an example of the current president’s limited powers on the international stage,” he added.
However, a more forceful response by Biden to the incident “could lead to an escalation of the already tense situation on the Korean peninsula while US military resources are at the limit,” warns Zurcher.
The soldier’s arrest came on the same day that a nuclearcapable US submarine docked in South Korea for the first time since 1981 to help the country deal with the North Korean nuclear threat.
Before the deployment, Pyongyang officials threatened retaliation and warned the United States that shipping nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula could trigger a nuclear crisis.
USNorth Korea relations have become more complicated since 2017 after an American student arrested in the Asian country a year earlier for stealing a propaganda poster was sent back to his country in a coma and then died.
His family blames the North Korean authorities for his death.
Three US citizens were later released during Donald Trump’s US presidency in 2018. However, Trump’s talks with North Korean leader Kim Jongun have done little to improve relations between the two countries.
North Korea has since tested dozens of increasingly powerful missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, leading to the imposition of new sanctions by the United States and its allies.
US troops in Korea
Seven decades after the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement that ended the Korean War, the United States continues to have a strong presence in the Korean region.
There are reportedly 28,000 US troops stationed in South Korea making South Korea the US’s thirdlargest foreign military presence, according to a 2021 Portal report.
South Korea is also home to the largest US military base abroad.
The US Army works closely with the South Korean military and is part of a security alliance that has been in place since the US entered the Korean War in 1950.
More than 70 years later, the US and South Korea continue their partnership because the Korean War never ended.
The armistice ended the fighting, but there was never a treaty ending the conflict between North Korea and South Korea and their allies.
And North Korea remains a concern for both the US and South Korea as the country frequently tests its missile capabilities and works to develop its nuclear weapons program.