A U.S. soldier facing disciplinary action made a daring escape across the inter-Korean border into North Korea on Tuesday, according to U.S. officials. It is believed that the soldier is now in North Korean custody, presenting a fresh crisis for the United States in its dealings with the nuclear-armed nation.
Colonel Isaac Taylor, spokesperson for the U.S. Armed Force in Korea, revealed that the service member, who was on an orientation tour of the Joint Security Area between the Koreas, “willfully and without authorization crossed the Military Demarcation Line into the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).” Taylor added, “We believe he is currently in DPRK custody and are working with our KPA counterparts to resolve this incident,” referring to North Korea’s People’s Army.
South Korea’s Dong-a Ilbo daily, citing the country’s army, initially identified the soldier as Travis King, a U.S. Army soldier holding the rank of private second class. However, the newspaper later removed the name from its reports.
The soldier’s crossing comes at a highly sensitive time, as tensions remain high on the Korean peninsula. Recently, a U.S. nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine arrived in South Korea for a rare visit, serving as a warning to North Korea in response to its own military activities. North Korea has been conducting tests of increasingly powerful missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, including the recent launch of a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile.
The White House, the U.S. State Department, the Pentagon, and North Korea’s mission to the United Nations in New York have not yet provided comments on the incident.
The Joint Security Area is located within the demilitarized zone that has divided the two Koreas since the end of the Korean War in 1953.
According to South Korean army sources cited by Dong-a and Chosun Ilbo daily newspapers, the man was part of a group of visitors, including civilians, at the Panmunjom truce village when he suddenly dashed across the borderline, marked by bricks.
The U.S. State Department advises U.S. nationals not to enter North Korea “due to the continuing serious risk of arrest and long-term detention of U.S. nationals.”
This incident brings to mind the case of U.S. college student Otto Warmbier, who was detained by North Korean authorities while on a tour of the country in 2015. Warmbier tragically died in 2017, just days after being released from North Korea and returning to the United States in a coma.
