‘North Korea has not responded to attempts to discuss US soldier’

Seoul: North Korea hasn’t responded to US attempts to discuss the American soldier who bolted across the heavily armed border, officials in Washington said, underscoring that the serviceman’s prospects for a quick release are unclear at a time of high tensions and inactive communication channels.

Pvt. Travis King, who was supposed to be on his way to Fort Bliss, Texas, after finishing a prison sentence in South Korea for assault, ran into North Korea while on a civilian tour of the border village of Panmunjom on Tuesday.

He is the first known American held in North Korea in nearly five years.

“Yesterday the Pentagon reached out to counterparts in the (North) Korean People’s Army. My understanding is that those communications have not yet been answered,” Matthew Miller, a spokesperson for the US State Department, told reporters Wednesday in Washington.

The US and North Korea, who fought during the 1950-53 Korean War, are still technically at war since that conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, and have no diplomatic ties.

Sweden provided consular services for Americans in past cases, but Swedish diplomatic staff reportedly haven’t returned since North Korea ordered foreigners to leave the country at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The US can also reach North Korea via a hotline at the US-led UN Command in Panmunjom known as the “ pink phone.” Miller said the State Department has reached out to officials in South Korea and Sweden. Jeon Ha-kyu, a spokesperson of South Korea’s Defence Ministry, said Thursday his ministry is sharing information with the American-led UN Command in South Korea, without elaborating. Currently, there are no known, active dialogues between North Korea and the US or South Korea.

The motive for King’s border crossing is unknown.

A witness on the same tour said she initially thought his dash was some kind of stunt until she heard an American soldier.