North Korea 'not returning calls' on missing US soldier
July 20, 2023
North Korea is not responding to US attempts at finding more information on the American soldier who ran across the heavily armed border with South Korea earlier this week, officials in Washington said on Thursday.
Amid high tensions and inactive communication channels, US officials said the prospects for a quick release of the serviceman is unclear at the moment.
"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.
The Pentagon said it was unable to offer any information about the condition of the soldier.
Asked if King was believed to be alive, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said, "we don't know his condition. We don't know where he's being held. We don't know the status of his health."
On Tuesday, Pvt. Travis King, who was on his way back to the US to face disciplinary action after being jailed in South Korea on assault charges, managed to escape the airport and join a tour of the Joint Security Area (JSA), which separates the two Koreas. King then dashed across the border.
Pyongyang did not answer the 'pink phone'
North Korea's state media, which usually reports on the detention of US nationals, has also not commented on the incident so far.
In the past, Sweden provided consular services for Americans. But the Swedish diplomatic staff reportedly haven't returned to North Korea since the pandemic.
The other way Washington can reach out to Pyongyang is via hotline at the US-led UN Command at the Korean border village Panmunjom – known as "pink phone.”
Reportedly, the telephone line connects the liaison officers from each side, whose offices are only 40 meters (130 feet) apart. Experts believe that the US used the "pink phone” to which North Korea did not answer.
Although the US and North Korea have no diplomatic ties, they still have ways to contact each other.
North Korea tensions with US
The incident comes at a time of heightened tensions between Washington and Pyongyang. The US deployed a nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea for the first time in four decades on the day of King's border crossing.
Several hours later, North Korea test-fired two missiles with the potential range to strike the South Korean port where the US submarine is docked.
North Korean Defense Minister Kang Sun Nam said on Thursday that the current submarine port visit is "the most undisguised and direct nuclear threat" to North Korea.
In a statement, he warned that the US deployment could meet North Korea's stated conditions for the deployment of nuclear weapons.
"The ever-increasing visibility of the deployment of strategic nuclear submarines and other strategic assets may fall under the conditions of the use of nuclear weapons specified in the DPRK law," the statement said.
ara/wmr (AP, Reuters, AFP)