North Korea detains US tourist for crossing border ‘without permission’
A tourist from the USA has been detained by North Korean authorities after crossing the military border without permission.
He entered the country from South Korea, the authorities have confirmed.
The man was reportedly taking part in a tour to the Joint Security Area (JSA), which is a demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas.
South Korea’s Dong-a Ilbo daily news outlet has identified him as Travis King, a US army soldier in the rank of private second class.
He reportedly crossed the border at around 3.27pm local time. His identity has not yet been confirmed elsewhere.
Soldiers from both sides stand guard in the area, which is one of the most heavily fortified in the world and stretches around 2km in each direction.
A tour was reportedly being carried out on the Korean border village of Panmunjom at the time of the incident.
Known as the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), it marks the border between North and South Korea.
It is also sometimes known as the ‘Armistice Line’ and was introduced at the end of the Korean War in 1953.
The United Nations Command said in a statement on Twitter: ‘A US National on a JSA orientation tour crossed, without authorisation, the Military Demarcation Line into the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
‘We believe he is currently in DPRK custody and are working with our KPA counterparts to resolve this incident.’
The border line lies around 30 miles north of the South Korean capital city of Seoul and is marked by 1,292 identical signs at staggered intervals across the peninsula.
Signs facing north are written in Korean and Chinese, while those facing south are written in Korean and English.
Landmines are scattered across the zone and it’s also surrounded by electric and barbed wire fencing with surveillance cameras keeping watch.
Tours to the JSA have been ongoing since the 1960s and are organised by private companies.
The UN also holds tours for its own officials.
Dozens of people escape North Korea every year but it’s very rare for people to defect via the demilitarised zone, given how dangerous it is.
US State Department travel advisory bans US nationals from entering North Korea ‘due to the continuing serious risk of arrest and long term detention of US nationals’.
The ban was implemented after US college student Otto Warmbier was detained by North Korean authorities while on a tour of the country in 2015.
He died in 2017, days after he was released from prison and returned to the United States in a coma.
No further details have been released by the UN Command at this stage.
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