North Korea has offered a brief response to the United Nations (UN) Command on US soldier Travis King- who sprinted into North Korea last month while on a tour of the Demilitarized Zone on the border- the Pentagon said on Tuesday (August 1). According to a report by the news agency Reuters, Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said that North Korea only acknowledged the UN Command’s request for information about King and stopped short of offering detailed information about him.
“I can confirm that the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) has responded to United Nations Command, but I don’t have any substantial progress to read out,” General Ryder told reporters, adding, Pyongyang’s message back to the UN Command was just “an acknowledgement” of the Command’s inquiry.
King, a private in the US Army, sprinted into North Korea on July 18 and was taken into custody, landing the US in a new diplomatic quandary with Pyongyang.
King joined the army in 2021 and served as a Cavalry Scout with the Korean Rotational Force, part of the decades-old US security commitment to South Korea. However, his posting was dogged by legal troubles. He faced allegations of assault in South Korea and served a hard labour sentence at the Cheonan correctional facility from May 24 to July 10.
After being released, King stayed at a US base in South Korea for a week before sprinting into North Korea. Now, American officials have expressed concerns over King’s fate in North Korea.
His crossing into the isolated country has led analysts to point out that tourists should expect far strict supervision if visits to the border between North and South Korea resume. Going to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas is a popular trip for tourists looking to get a glimpse of the reclusive authoritarian state.
For tour agencies, the Joint Security Area (JSA) inside the DMZ is one of the packages that sell with the highest margin in South Korea. Speaking to Reuters, Lim Eul-chul, a professor of North Korean studies at Kyungnam University, said authorities should focus on how to better control tour groups while keeping the area open to the public.
