An American soldier has been detained by North Korea after crossing the military border with South Korea without permission, authorities have confirmed.
Multiple reports say the male US soldier Travis King crossed the border without permission at 3.27pm local time.
The Military Demarcation Line (MDL) marks the border between North and South Korea.
Sometimes known as the ‘Armistice Line’, it is surrounded by a demilitarised zone.
In a statement, the United Nations Command said: ‘A US National on a JSA orientation tour crossed, without authorisation, the Military Demarcation Line into the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
‘We believe he is currently in DPRK custody and are working with our KPA counterparts to resolve this incident.’
South Korean Travel Planning said tours to the Joint Security Area (JSA) have recently resumed.
Bloodshed and gunfire have occasionally occurred there, but it has also been a venue for numerous talks and a popular tourist spot.
The individual concerned was on a tour of the Korean border village of Panmunjom.
Cases of Americans or South Koreans defecting to North Korea are rare, though more than 30,000 North Koreans have fled to South Korea to avoid political oppression and economic difficulties since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
The MDL was put in place at the end of the Korean War in 1953 and it is around 148.5 miles long.
The demilitarised zone stretches to two kilometres either side.
It comes amid heightened tensions between North Korea and the US as the latter deployed a nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea for the first time in over 40 years.
South Korea’s Defence Ministry said the USS Kentucky arrived in the city of Busan Tuesday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has railed against the West and continues to pursue a policy of creating nuclear weapons.
His sister and senior adviser, Kim Yo Jong, warned that the US moves to reinforce its extended deterrence commitment to South Korea will only make North Korea ‘go farther away from the negotiating table desired.’
‘(North Korea) is ready for resolutely countering any acts of violating its sovereignty and territorial integrity,’ Kim Yo Jong said.
‘The US should stop its foolish act of provoking (North Korea) even by imperiling its security.’
