WASHINGTON
\nThe US military was scrambling on Wednesday to determine the fate of an American soldier who made an unauthorised crossing of the inter-Korean border into North Korea, throwing Washington into a new crisis in its dealing with the nuclear-armed state.
\nThe US Army identified the soldier as Private Travis T. King who joined in 2021 and was facing disciplinary action.
\nWhile on an orientation tour of Joint Security Area (JSA) on the border between the two Koreas, King crossed into North Korea on Tuesday \u201cwilfully and without authorization,\u201d US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said.
\n\u201cWe believe that he is in (North Korean) custody and so we\u2019re closely monitoring and investigating the situation and working to notify the soldier\u2019s next of kin,\u201d Austin told a briefing.
\nNorth Korea\u2019s state media has made no mention of the incident. Its mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
\nThe crossing comes at a time of renewed tension on the Korean peninsula, with the arrival on Tuesday of a US nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine, and the test launch early on Wednesday of two ballistic missiles into the sea by North Korea.
\nThe short-range missiles were fired from an area near its capital, Pyongyang, flying 550 km and 600 km before plunging into the sea off its east coast, South Korea\u2019s military said.
\nNorth Korea has been testing increasingly powerful missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, including a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile last week.
\nThe UN Command (UNC), which oversees security for the border area, had communicated over a hotline with the North Koreans about the US soldier, a spokesperson for US Forces Korea said.
\nThe US military was \u201cworking with our KPA counterparts to resolve this incident,\u201d Colonel Isaac Taylor said, referring to North Korea\u2019s People\u2019s Army.
\n\u201cWe communicate with the North Koreans every single day,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s all part of the armistice agreement.\u201d
\nThe soldier was on a tour of the Panmunjom truce village when he crossed the Military Demarcation Line that has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War ended in 1953 with an armistice, US officials said.
\nHis motive is not known. While based in South Korea, he faced accusations of assault and damaging a police car in an October incident. He pled guilty and was sentenced in February to a fine, a court document seen by Reuters showed.
\nKing had finished serving in military detention and was transported by the US military to the airport to return to his home unit in the United States, two US officials said.
\nHe had passed alone through security to his gate and then fled, one official said. Civilian tours of the demilitarised zone (DMZ) are advertised at the airport and King appeared to have decided to join one, an official said.
\nThe US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the soldier had been due to face disciplinary action by the US military. It was not clear if that was related to the October incident.
\nSouth Korea\u2019s Unification Ministry, which handles ties with the North, said all tours to Panmunjom had been cancelled indefinitely at the UN Command\u2019s request. But Imjingak in Paju, which marks the end of the road before the military-controlled bridge leading into the DMZ, was bustling with tourists.
\nIt was unclear how long North Korean authorities would hold the soldier but analysts said the incident could be valuable propaganda for the isolated country.
\nThe border incident occurred as senior South Korean and US officials held the first round of talks on Tuesday on upgrading coordination in the event of a nuclear war with North Korea.
\nThe United States has pledged to deploy more strategic assets such as aircraft carriers, submarines and long-range bombers to South Korea, drawing an angry response from Pyongyang which vowed to escalate its own response.
\nA former North Korean diplomat who defected to the South said King may be a propaganda tool for North Korea and a loss of face for the United States on the day of the arrival of the submarine and the nuclear talks.
\n\u201cBut looking at previous cases of US servicemen who went into the North, holding an American soldier is probably a not very cost-effective headache for the North in the long run,\u201d said Tae Yong-ho, who is a member of South Korea\u2019s parliament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON The US military was scrambling on Wednesday to determine the fate of an American soldier who made an unauthorised crossing of the inter-Korean border into North Korea, throwing Washington into a new crisis in its dealing with the nuclear-armed state. The US Army identified the soldier as Private Travis T. King who joined in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344411,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-344392","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n