Latest Breaking News Online News Portal
A U.S. soldier has been detained by North Korea after dashing across the demilitarized zone that separates the communist country from South Korea, officials familiar with the situation told NBC News on Tuesday.
The still-unidentified soldier had joined a tour of the Joint Security Area run by a private excursion company when he suddenly bolted across the border, one of the three officials who have confirmed the account said.
The United Nations Command security forces that had been escorting the tour gave chase but could not catch him in time, the official said.
Col. Isaac Taylor, the public affairs director for USFK (United States Forces Korea) confirmed that a U.S. service member “on a JSA orientation tour willfully and without authorization” crossed into North Korea.
“We believe he is currently in DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) custody and are working with our KPA (Korean People’s Army) counterparts to resolve this incident,” Taylor said in an emailed statement.
The White House is also monitoring the situation, which came amid heightened tensions over North Korea’s nuclear program, but has not yet commented.
Tours of the area have been ongoing since the 1960s and are organized by private companies, while the U.N. has held its own tours for its staff.
The area is just 30 miles north of Seoul, the South Korean capital, and has huge historic importance as the place where the armistice to end the Korean War was signed in 1953.
The news comes as the USS Kentucky, a nuclear-powered submarine, arrived at the Busan naval base in South Korea on Tuesday.
“This port visit to Busan reflects the United States’ ironclad commitment to the Republic of Korea for our extended deterrence guarantee,” U.S. Forces Korea said in a statement.
Corky Siemaszko contributed.
