US soldier fled, North Korea won’t answer calls

The US State Department reported that North Korea did not respond to extradition requests for the US soldier who crossed the North Korean border.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters: “Yesterday, the Department of Defense (Pentagon) tried to communicate with their Korean People’s Army (KPA) counterparts. As I understand it, attempts at communication (about the return of the soldier) went unanswered,” he said.

Miller added that the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department are working together on the soldier’s safety and his return to the country.

North Korea currently does not have an active dialogue with the United States or South Korea, and it is not known how talks on the matter will proceed.

THE ESCAPE THAT SHOCKED THE USA

The United Nations Command (UNC) in South Korea announced yesterday on its Twitter account that an American civilian crossed the North Korean border “without permission and voluntarily” during a sightseeing tour to Panmunjom, the de facto border town between South Korea and North Korea.

In details that later emerged, it was claimed that the 23-year-old soldier named Travis King was sentenced to nearly 2 months in prison for beating up a civilian at a nightclub in South Korea and kicking the police vehicle, and was released on July 10 and sent back to the Fort Bliss military base in Texas for disciplinary punishment.

King, who returned on the grounds that he lost his passport at the airport where he was taken with the soldiers, was reported to have left the airport and joined the organized tour to the de facto border village of Panmunjom, which is the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea, where tourists are located.

It is unknown how King joined the DMZ tour group, why he crossed the border, and what his fate is now. (AA)