The United States Department of Defense confirmed on Tuesday that North Korea broke its silence and has responded to the United Nations Commandwho tried to contact the North Korean authorities more than a week ago to try to recover the American soldier Travis Kingwho crossed the border voluntarily and without authorization.
Pentagon spokesman General Patrick Ryder told a news conference that despite the response, There is no information about the state of the soldier.
“I do not have any update on the status of Private King (…) The United Nations Command communicated through well-established channels through the Joint Security Agency. I can confirm that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has responded, but I do not have any substantive progress to announce.Ryder stated.
The spokesman added that North Korea’s message to the United Nations Command has only been “an acknowledgment” of the existence of the investigation initiated by that body, led by the United States.
King crossed the Military Demarcation Line as a civilian one day before his scheduled return to the United States, where he was to face disciplinary action for his misbehavior while deployed in South Korea, where he was eventually detained for several days.
Since then, nothing has been heard from King.. US Army sources have said there were no indications the soldier was trying to defect and that he will be decommissioned once he lands on US soil.
The United Nations Command is a United States-led multinational military force that fought on the side of South Korea during the Korean War (1950-1953). It controls the South Korean side of the Joint Security Area, the only place where Pyongyang and Seoul can meet to negotiate.
Previously, the Pentagon explained that it was trying to contact Pyongyang “at all government levels” through diplomatic channels,” adding that the White House National Security Council has indicated that “there has been contact through Sweden”, a country that does have diplomatic relations with the regime, without concrete results.
(With information from Europa Press)
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Source-www.infobae.com