WASHINGTON: The United Nations Command (UNC) has established communication with the North Korean military concerning the US Army soldier who crossed into North Korea at the Joint Security Area (JSA) last week, the London-based Sunday Times reported on Saturday.
The UNC, responsible for maintaining the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War along the demilitarized zone (DMZ), including the JSA, where US Private Second Class Travis King made his move, utilized the “pink phone” hotline to connect with the Korean People’s Army (KPA), North Korea’s military.
“We don’t know the location of Private King at the moment, but we are in communication with the Korean People’s Army, and we are maintaining, through the joint security area, constant dialogue with the KPA. That link is open and is alive,” said British Lt. General Andrew Harrison, the UNC’s deputy commander, in an interview in Seoul with the Sunday Times.
However, Harrison refrained from disclosing further details, emphasizing that the primary concern is the welfare of the individual involved. This marks the first confirmation of ongoing talks with North Korea regarding King’s situation.
How US Soldier Crossed into North Korea
Recently, a leaked US military report revealed that King was considered a flight risk months before his crossing of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) on Tuesday. The report stated that King had a history of incidents in September and October and was scheduled to be returned to the United States on Monday for disciplinary action after being held in a South Korean facility for two months. However, he deliberately missed his return flight and booked a tour to the DMZ.
King’s actions come at a time of heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, with North Korea firing several cruise missiles into the Yellow Sea just hours after South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff reported the North’s firing of two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea. The US nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine USS Kentucky had also arrived in Busan on the same day.
