US says North Korea still hasn’t responded to attempts at contact over defecting soldier
North Korea has so far ignored the US’s efforts to “reach out” to the Korean People’s Army (KPA) to determine the fate of a soldier who fled to the secretive country.
Washington, which shares deteriorated ties with Pyongyang, scrambled to establish communication with the North Korean regime after Private Second Class Travis King, 23, fled into North Korea by crossing the heavily fortified inter-Korea border from South Korea during a civilian tour.
The US State Department said it attempted to establish contact with their North Korean counterparts in the KPA on Wednesday about Travis King, but the outreach went unanswered.
“Yesterday, the Pentagon reached out to counterparts from the Korean People’s Army,” spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters on Wednesday at a media briefing. “My understanding is that those communications have not yet been answered.”
He said American officials are engaging with authorities from South Korea and Sweden, which act as a diplomatic liaison to North Korea.
The US will continue to “work to ensure his safety and return him out to his family”, Mr Miller said.
The outreach came even as the armies of the two countries ramped up tension on the Korean peninsula over Kim Jong-un’s missile testing spree to show its war posturing.
A US special representative for North Korea, Sung Kim, also said the US was “working hard” to gather information about Mr King to ensure his safety and return.
On Monday, Mr King was due to return to Texas from Seoul’s Incheon Airport and was escorted till the security checks from where he was supposed to move to the departure hall, according to a US military report obtained by the US website The Messenger.
But Mr King managed to escape the airport after he told American Airlines staff that he lost his passport, according to airport officials.
Mr King was supposed to face additional military disciplinary action after completing of his almost two months in a South Korean jail on assault charges, US officials said.
The US soldier joined a civilian tour to the demilitarized zone (DMZ) on the border between the two Koreas and was pictured wearing jeans, a black shirt and a black hat with the letters “DMZ” printed on it.
Sarah Leslie, a New Zealand tourist who was on the same trip with Mr King, said he suddenly began running between the structures towards the North just as the tour was about to end.
“It all happened pretty quickly,” she said, with American and South Korean guards shouting “get him” and unsuccessfully trying to stop Mr King from crossing. “I assumed it was some kind of stunt.”
The Messenger reported that Mr King ran to the back of a building where he entered a van and was driven out of the area by North Korean troops.
His mother, Claudine Gates, of Racine, Wisconsin, told ABC News that she was shocked to hear the news and she heard from her son “a few days ago”.
“I can’t see Travis doing anything like that,” Ms Gates said.
Additional reporting by agencies
