Seoul (EFE).- A US citizen entered North Korea without authorization today during a visit to the militarized border that divides the two Koreas and is currently in the hands of the North Korean army.
In a brief statement on Twitter from the UN Command in the area, “a US citizen crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) into the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea’s official name) without authorization during a tour of orientation”
“We believe that he is currently in DPRK custody and we are working with our Korean People’s Army (KPA) counterparts to resolve this incident,” the text added.
dropout zone
The UN Command is in charge of the southern fringe of the Joint Security Zone (JSA), the only point in the heart of the border where expensive troops from the two Koreas are visible, technically still at war.
The statement did not clarify whether the US citizen was a tourist (the JSA can be visited this way) or a military man.
The JSA has been the scene of defections in the past, although they have almost always involved people trying to cross into South Korea.
In 2017, a North Korean soldier led a spectacular escape in which his companions hit him with several shots, although he survived.
In 1984 a student from the now non-existent Soviet Union crossed into the South during a tourist visit, which led to a tragic exchange of fire between troops that ended with the deaths of three North Korean soldiers, one South Korean and one from the UN Command.