PAJU, South Korea: US officials scrambled on Wednesday (Jul 19) to determine the fate of an American soldier who made an unauthorised crossing into North Korea, handing Washington a new crisis in its dealings with the nuclear-armed state.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told a regular briefing the Pentagon had “reached out” to counterparts in North Korea’s Korean People’s Army about the soldier, Private Travis King, but added: “My understanding is that those communications have not yet been answered.”
The Pentagon said King, 23, who joined the Army in 2021 and was facing disciplinary action, crossed into North Korea on Tuesday “wilfully and without authorisation” while on an orientation tour of the Joint Security Area (JSA) on the border between the two Koreas.
North Korea’s state media has made no mention of the incident and its mission to the United Nations in New York has not responded to requests for comment.
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told a briefing the Biden administration was still gathering the facts, while the State Department said US officials were trying to ascertain King’s whereabouts.
Miller said the US had also engaged with Sweden, which acts as a diplomatic channel for Washington with Pyongyang, but added: “We are still trying to gather information here about the whereabouts of Private King.”
“The administration has and will continue to actively work to ensure his safety and return him home to his family,” Miller said.
The incident comes at a time of high 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.
Army Colonel Isaac Taylor, a spokesperson for US Forces Korea, said on Tuesday the UN Command (UNC), which oversees security for the border area, was “working with our KPA counterparts to resolve this incident”.
Taylor said the communication had been over a daily hotline with the North Koreans, though he did not elaborate on any response.
LEGAL TROUBLES
King was on a tour of the Panmunjom truce village when he suddenly dashed across the Military Demarcation Line that has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War ended in 1953 with an armistice, US officials said.
His motive is not known. While based in South Korea, he faced accusations of assault and damaging a police car in an October incident. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced in February to a fine, a court document seen by Reuters showed.
Carl Gates, the brother of King’s mother Claudine Gates, told the Daily Beast his nephew had been “breaking down” after the tragic death of his 7-year-old cousin earlier this year.
Gates said his son died in late February from a rare genetic disorder and was on life support in his final days.
“When my son was on life support, and when my son passed away … Travis started (being) reckless (and) crazy when he knew my son was about to die,” the outlet quoted Gates as saying. “I know it was related to what he did.”
Claudine Gates, told ABC News she was shocked at the news her son had crossed into North Korea. “I can’t see Travis doing anything like that,” she said.
Source: CNA
