Seoul (EFE)
“We started a conversation with the Korean People’s Army (KPA) through the usual channels, but I can’t say anything more to spoil that process,” the British military said at a press conference in Seoul.
“There is a mechanism that exists and was established by the armistice (the treaty that ended the Korean War in 1953),” Harrison explained about the medium used to dialogue, in apparent reference to the so-called “Pink Telephone.”
Faced with persistent questions about the details of these exchanges, Harrison assured that it is not possible for him to disclose them due to the extreme sensitivity of the case.
A supposed escape
He also did not want to answer questions about the details of the escape of the soldier Travis T. King, who is in the hands of the North Korean authorities, including the possibility that the soldier planned a defection, as reported last week by a US media citing military documents.
Harrison insisted that “the case is still under investigation” and that the main concern of the UN Command “is the well-being of Mr. King.”
The soldier was to be returned to the US after being imprisoned for altercations in South Korea, where he had arrived in 2021, but on Monday he allegedly fled Incheon International Airport, which serves Seoul, where he was to catch a flight to Dallas.
King booked a tourist visit to the JSA (whose southern strip is controlled by the UN Command) the next day, which he took advantage of to cross into North Korea.