Travis King: North Korea 'not responding to calls' on missing soldier, says US

North Korea is not responding to attempts to negociate the merchandise of a US worker who fled implicit its heavily-armed border, Washington says.

The US has tried to interaction North Korea's subject done "multiple channels", the White House said.

The US was inactive trying to ascertain the soldier's whereabouts and wellbeing, a spokesperson added.

The situation comes during a peculiarly tense clip with the North. Relations with the US person plummeted successful caller years, arsenic it has tested dozens of progressively almighty missiles susceptible of carrying atomic warheads.

On its travel advisory, the US tells its citizens not to question to North Korea - 1 of the world's astir isolated states - owed to "the continuing superior hazard of arrest" and the "critical menace of wrongful detention".

It is unclear if PV2 King has defected oregon hopes to return.

Experts accidental specified a low-ranking worker would person small propaganda and quality value, which whitethorn punctual North Korea into releasing him - but what volition hap to him remains highly uncertain.

The deficiency of precedent makes it hard to foresee adjacent steps - it's been decades since a US worker past defected to the North.

The information that Pyongyang is not responding to US attempts to pass is adding to the uncertainty.

But the 23-year-old did not committee the level erstwhile helium parted ways with his subject escorts astatine Incheon Airport adjacent Seoul connected Tuesday and alternatively embarked connected an seemingly pre-booked circuit to the borderline - the details of however helium managed to bash that are inactive unclear.

US defence officials said the worker "wilfully" crossed into the North implicit 1 of the astir heavily-fortified areas successful the world.

The Washington-based quality website the Messenger said it had seen an interior US authorities study which described PV2 King's actions erstwhile helium crossed the border.

It quoted the study arsenic saying PV2 King sprinted up to a gathering connected the North Korean side.

He is said to person banged vigorously connected the door, and erstwhile determination was nary answer, helium ran astir the backmost and got into a van. He was past instantly driven off, according to the website.

The DMZ has separated the 2 countries since the Korean War successful the 1950s, successful which the US backed the South. The warfare ended with an armistice, meaning that the 2 sides are inactive technically astatine war. Tens of thousands of US troops stay successful the South.

Pyongyang could usage PV2 King arsenic a propaganda instrumentality to criticise the US military, said James Fretwell, an expert astatine Seoul-based specializer tract NK News.

"King whitethorn good amusement up successful North Korean authorities media astatine immoderate constituent successful the adjacent future. But a batch depends connected however agelong his interrogation, and possibly his Covid-19 quarantine, lasts," helium added. North Korea inactive maintains a strict borderline lockdown successful effect to the pandemic.

But Jenny Town, manager of the Stimson Center's 38 North Program, believes Mr King "does not marque for a precise perfect oregon compelling worker story".

"There person besides been cases agelong agone of US soldiers who defected and were allowed to stay… But successful those cases, determination was governmental worth to [their stories] and it was a precise antithetic time, and a antithetic leader," she said.

Meanwhile, down the scenes, diplomats and subject officials are desperately trying to speech to the North Koreans to find retired what is going on, but engaging them is not easy.

State section spokesperson Matthew Miller said the US, which has nary diplomatic relations with North Korea, has different channels to communicate.

He said section officials were engaging with counterparts successful South Korea and Sweden to entree accusation connected PV2 King - but US officials knew thing of his existent information oregon whereabouts.

Given that the 2 countries bash not person diplomatic relations, the Swedish embassy successful Pyongyang tends to negociate connected behalf of the US. Currently its diplomatic unit are not successful the country, due to the fact that of the ongoing borderline closure since the pandemic.

Both the UN Command, that runs the borderline area, and the South Korean subject person nonstop telephone lines to the North Korean military, that they telephone regular to cheque in, though the North Koreans bash not ever prime up.

In caller years, a fig of American citizens who illegally entered North Korea - excluding those convicted of transgression enactment determination - person been released wrong six months.

Some experts consciousness that the tensions betwixt North Korea and the US and the impasse successful bilateral talks means the North has small to summation successful holding connected to PV2 King.

"For Pyongyang, it makes consciousness to find a mode of extracting immoderate compensation and past expel an American for unauthorised entry," said Leif-Eric Easley, a prof of planetary studies astatine Ewha Womans University successful Seoul.

"In the best-case scenario, the American worker volition instrumentality location safely astatine the outgo of immoderate propaganda triumph for Pyongyang, and US and North Korean officials whitethorn person an accidental to resume dialog and contacts that went stagnant during the pandemic."