US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told a Pentagon press conference Tuesday that a US service member was likely now in North Korean custody after crossing the border from South Korea into North Korea. 

"We're closely monitoring and investigating the situation and working to notify the soldier's next of kin," Austin said, adding he was foremost concerned about the soldier's well-being. The White House said it is "working to resolve" the situation. 

The soldier was identified as Private Second Class Travis King.

The United Nations Command first reported earlier Tuesday that an unidentified US citizen had crossed the border at the Joint Security Area (JSA), the border village in the demilitarized zone that separates the two Koreas and where soldiers from both sides stand guard.

The command, charged with ensuring security on the Korean Peninsula, said the man crossed the border into the North "without authorization" and is now in North Korean custody. 

The US military in South Korea also said in a statement that the man "willfully and without authorization" crossed the military demarcation line into North Korea. 

What we know so far

The Associated Press and CBS News, citing unnamed US officials, reported that the man is a private in the US Army who had just been released from a South Korean prison on assault charges, and was facing disciplinary action in the US.

The officials said the soldier was being transported to the airport for return to the US. However, the man was able to leave the airport and join a tour to the JSA.

It is not immediately clear how the man was able to leave the airport. 

A US official told the Associated Press that it is "not normal" for active duty service members to go on such tours.  

"We believe he is currently in [North Korean] custody and are working with our KPA counterparts to resolve this incident," the UN command said, referring to North Korea's People's Army. 

North Korean state media has not immediately reported on the incident. 

Border area popular with tourists

The JSA, also known as Panmunjom, is a popular tourist destination. It attracts hundreds of visitors every day who tour the area on the South Korean side. North Korea and South Korea are officially still at war.

Kim Yeon-seung, a journalist from Seoul, told DW that a person could easily cross the military demarcation line at the JSA because "it's just a bump or a line in the ground."

"Crossing over that line would only take a step," she said.

Kim said she has been told there are fewer soldiers guarding the North Korean part, especially since the pandemic. And since crossing the border would only take a split second, the UN Command guarding the South Korean part would not have enough time to react.

"But something like this has really never happened before," she said. "Since it's something the authorities haven't seen before, they don't know how to react," Kim added.

"There was a case in 2001 where a foreign national did try to cross over to the North Korean side, but was immediately caught by the guards," she said.

Donald Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Panmunjom Truce Village in 2019 and even stepped across the demarcation line onto North Korean soil.

The incident on Tuesday comes as relations between the two Koreas are at a low, with diplomatic efforts between the two sides stalled. 

Cases of US or South Korean citizens defecting to North Korea are rare. However, more than 30,000 North Koreans have fled to South Korea to avoid political oppression and economic hardship since the de facto end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

The solider is the first US citizen to be detained in North Korea in nearly five years. 

A US State Department travel advisory tells US nationals not to enter North Korea "due to the continuing serious risk of arrest and long-term detention of US nationals."

The advice was made more emphatic than previously after US college student Otto Warmbier was detained by North Korean authorities while visiting the country in 2015. Warmbier died in 2017, days after being released from prison and returning to the United States in a coma.

rc/wmr (AP, Reuters)