US national who illegally crossed over to North Korea is a US army soldier: Report

livemint.com:

US soldier has crossed the inter-Korean border into North Korea, citing two US officials. One of the officials said the soldier was believed to be in North Korean custody. The officials did not immediately offer further information.

The South Korea's Dong-a Ilbo daily, citing South Korea's army, identified the person as Travis King, a US army soldier in the rank of private second class. The United Nations Command that oversees the demilitarised zone area at the border earlier on Tuesday identified the individual as a US national but offered no further details about their identity. The UN Command said that the national had entered North Korea without authorisation while the US national was on a tour to the Korean border village of Panmunjom.

It said he is currently in North Korean custody and that the U.N. Command is working with its North Korean counterparts to resolve the incident. It gave no further details on who the person is or why he crossed the border.

Panmunjom, located inside the 248-kilometer (154-mile) -long Demilitarized Zone, is jointly overseen by the U.N. Command and North Korea since its creation at the close of the Korean War. Bloodshed and gunfire have occasionally occurred there, but it has also been a venue for numerous talks and a popular tourist spot.

Known for its blue huts straddling concrete slabs that form a military demarcation line, Panmunjom has drawn visitors on both sides, who want to see what the Cold War's last frontier looks like. No civilians live at Panmunjom. Tours to the southern side of the village reportedly drew around 100,000 visitors a year before the pandemic, when South Korea restricted gatherings to slow the spread of Covid-19.