North Korea responded to the multinational military force's request for information on the US Private with a brief statement. Travis King sprinted across the heavily armed border with South Korea in July
ADVERTISEMENTThe United Nations Command announced on Thursday that Pyongyang had "responded" to its requests concerning US soldier Travis King, who is believed to be detained in North Korea after entering illegally on 18 July without giving further details.
In a statement, the North Korean army "has responded to the UN Command regarding Private King," said the US-led UN multinational force, which oversees compliance with the armistice between the two Koreas.
"In order not to interfere with efforts to bring him home, we will not go into details at this time", it added.
This information comes ten days after the UN Command announced the launch of "discussions with the Korean People's Army via the armistice agreement mechanism", about the agreement that ended hostilities in 1953 after the Korean War.
King, who was enlisted in 2021, was imprisoned for 47 days in a South Korean detention centre following an alleged drunken brawl in a nightclub and an altercation with local police in Seoul after he reportedly kicked in the door of a squad car.
He was released from prison on 10 July and was expected back in the US for a disciplinary hearing at Fort Bliss in Texas.
According to the US Command, King slipped away on 18 July and crossed the border between South and North Korea, on a visit to the demilitarised inter-Korean village "voluntarily and without authorisation" and was taken into custody.
Technically speaking the two Koreas remain at war, as the 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, not a treaty, and most of the border between them is fortified.
Located in North Korea, the demilitarised zone (DMZ) can be visited, provided you register several weeks in advance and supply a passport. It is policed by the UN Command.
Pyongyang has repeatedly detained Americans and used them for propaganda. King who is 23 years old, is believed to be the first US soldier to cross into North Korea since 1982.
This incident comes against a backdrop of high tension between the West and North Korean President Kim Jong Un, who at the end of July unveiled new nuclear-capable drones and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) while Russian Defence Minister Sergei Choigou was on a visit to North Korea for Victory Day celebrations.
Some experts say the North may try to use King for propaganda or as a bargaining chip to coax political and security concessions from Washington, possibly tying his release with the US cutting back its military activities with South Korea.
The US and South Korea have been expanding their combined military exercises and have agreed to increase the regional deployment of US strategic assets like bombers, aircraft carriers and submarines in a show of force against North Korea, which has test-fired around 100 missiles since the start of 2022.