US: No Response From North Korea on Detained Soldier

North Korea hasn’t responded to multiple messages from the United States regarding Pvt. 2nd Class Travis King, an American soldier who crossed into the country from South Korea last week, U.S. officials said.

“We have relayed messages through multiple channels to [North Korea] that the individual crossed on his own and we want him returned quickly and safely,” a U.S. official told The Wall Street Journal. “We also asked for more information on his welfare.”

According to the official, the U.S. knows the message was received by Pyongyang, but would not provide additional details.

At a briefing Monday, British Army Lt. Gen. Andrew Harrison said the U.S. reached out to North Korea with a communications line established under the armistice agreement that ended fighting in the Korean War.

The U.S. sent messages through at least two channels, but North Korea hasn’t engaged, U.S. officials said.

Using Sweden as a go-between, the White House attempts to contact Pyongyang, as well as the United Nations command in Seoul.

State Department spokesman Matt Miller denied reports that the U.N. command had been communicating regularly with North Korea and said there had been a “misinterpretation.”

“I’m not aware of any new communications, other than those that happened in the very early hours or early days after he went across the border,” Miller told the Journal.

King, 23, has been detained in North Korea since crossing the border last Tuesday while on a tour of the Joint Security Area of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas.

“The primary concern for us is Private King’s welfare,” Harrison said, adding that he remains optimistic. Harrison declined to elaborate, citing the sensitivity of the discussions.

King had been held at a South Korean detention facility for 47 days and had been set to fly to Texas the day before he crossed the border for disciplinary actions and potential discharge after two alleged assaults last year.

He reportedly lied about his passport being missing to avoid boarding the return flight to Fort Bliss.

“At the gate, he approached an American Airlines official and reported that his passport was missing and was able to return out of the departure gate under the escort of an airline employee,” an official at Incheon International Airport told The Korea Times.

It remains unclear how King traveled to Panmunjeom, a border village inside the DMZ, after not boarding his flight. The village is located about 53 miles from the airport.

North Korea has not publicly commented on King.