A US soldier was taken into North Korean custody after crossing the inter-Korean border on Tuesday, in a bizarre incident that comes amid heightened tensions between Pyongyang and Washington.
The soldier had been on a guided tour of the Joint Security Area at the heart of the demilitarised zone, or DMZ, that has separated the two Koreas since the 1950s. He was identified as Travis King, a private second class — a low-ranked enlisted soldier — who had joined in January 2021, according to an Army spokesman.
The United Nations Command (UNC), the multinational resident force in South Korea, said Tuesday that a US citizen crossed the demarcation line into North Korea.