A US soldier, on Tuesday night, crossed the heavily fortified border from South Korea into North Korea. This is the first time a US soldier has crossed into North Korea in decades. The last time such an incident occurred was in 1982.
The soldier has been identified as Pvt. Travis King, a soldier, reported to the base at Fort Bliss, Texas. The US military is attempting to assess the situation and establish the fate of King. The incident throws Washington, who currently has a tense relationship with the North in a more difficult position.
King “willfully and without authorization” crossed into North Korea while taking a civilian tour of the Joint Security Area, US military officials said, CNN reported. “We believe he is currently in (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) custody and is working with our (Korean People’s Army) counterparts to resolve this incident,” US Forces Korea spokesperson Col. Isaac Taylor said in a statement to CNN.
King, who was detained in South Korea on assault charges for roughly two months was escorted to an airport for a flight back to the US. He, however, joined a civilian tour to the border and later crossed into the North.
The border between the North and the South is known as the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and cross-border crossings are highly unusual. There has never been peace between the neighbouring nations as there was never a permanent peace agreement to end the Korean War, which began in 1950. Only tourists from South Korea are allowed to visit the area after the 1953 armistice created the Joint Security Area. Unarmed soldiers are allowed in the area too.
Relations between the US and North Korea have also been fraught, especially in the last couple of years when the North has been testing ballistic and cruise missiles at increasing frequencies. Kim Jong Un's talks with former president Donald Trump ended abruptly without any diplomatic breakthroughs.
The North has been particularly vexed since an April summit between President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, where it was decided that US nuclear submarines would resume visits to the Korean peninsula.
What's next for King?
It is unclear as to the amount of information King could provide the North with. Having spent time at a military installation, he could give details like base layouts or what units and numbers of troops are there. Being a US soldier and citizen gives North Korea a valuable bargaining chip. The North could also use King for building on propaganda.
According to a CNN report, The United Nations Command, which oversees operations in the DMZ, said it was “working with our (North) Korean People’s Army counterparts to resolve this incident.” It is unclear as to what the North might demand in return for King to be sent back to the US.
Previous incidents
There have been instances of Americans crossing into the North.
In 1965, Charles Jenkins, a US Army sergeant deserted his post and crossed the DMZ. He was used as an asset to further patriotic propaganda and was featured on leaflets and films.
In 1980, Jenkins married a Japanese nursing student who had been abducted by North Korean agents in 1978. in 2002, Soga was allowed to return to Japan and Jenkins was allowed to join his wife in Japan in 2004. There, he surrendered to US military authorities and was dishonourably discharged and sentenced to 25 years for defection. He died in Japan in 2017.
In September 2014, Matthew Miller was sentenced to six years of hard labour by North Korea’s Supreme Court on charges of illegally entering the country for spying purposes. Miller admitted to wanting to experience North Korean prison life to investigate the country’s human rights conditions.
Eventually, Miller was freed in November 2014 along with another American, Kenneth Bae, a missionary and tour leader.
In November 2012, Bae, a Korean-American missionary from Washington was arrested while leading a tour group in a special North Korean economic zone. Bae was sentenced to 15 years in prison for “hostile acts,” including smuggling in inflammatory literature. In November 2014, Bae returned to the US as a result of a secret mission by James Clapper, then-U.S. director of national intelligence.
A month before Bae and Miller’s release, North Korea also freed Jeffrey Fowle, who was detained for six months for leaving a Bible in a nightclub in the city of Chongjin. North Korea is largely known to be strictly anti-religious.
In January 2016, a student from Virginia, Otto Warmbier was held for trying to steal a propaganda poster and sentenced to 15 years of hard labour. Warmbier suffered brain damage while serving time and was flown home in a vegetative state after 17 months in captivity. He died a week later.
-- With inputs from AP via PTI
