A United States national entered North Korea during a tour of the heavily fortified border and is believed to have been detained, the United Nations Command said Tuesday. READ:
"A US national on a JSA orientation tour crossed, without authorisation, the Military Demarcation Line into the Democratic People's Republic of Korea ," the UN Command said, referring to the Joint Security Area and the border between the Koreas.
Soldiers from both sides face off at the JSA north of Seoul, which is overseen by the United Nations Command. "Panmonjom is the most likely site this American chose to cross into North Korea because it's the only location one could attempt such a move out of the whole JSA tour," Choi Gi-il, a professor of military studies at Sangji University told AFP.
Retired US Army Lt. Col. Steve Tharp, who worked in the JSA area, told Seoul-based specialist site NK News that he had no idea how the North Koreans would react to the incident as there was "so little data out there" about events like this.The incident comes as relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points, with diplomacy stalled and Kim calling for increased weapons development, including tactical nuclear weapons.
Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of Kim Jong Un, said Monday that such actions would only "make the DPRK go farther away" from possible talks.In 1976, two American soldiers were killed in the JSA by North Koreans with axes in a dispute over a tree.
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