The U.S. military in South Korea said in a statement that he “willfully and without authorization” crossed the military demarcation line into North Korea.
SEOUL, South Korea — An American soldier crossed the heavily armed border from South Korea into , U.S. officials said Tuesday. He went “willfully and without authorization,” the U.S. military said, becoming the first American detained in the North in nearly five years at a time of heightened tensions over its nuclear program.
The U.S. military in South Korea also said in a statement that he “willfully and without authorization” crossed the military demarcation line into North Korea. Panmunjom, located inside the 248-kilometer-long Demilitarized Zone, has been jointly overseen by the U.N. Command and North Korea since its creation at the close of the Korean War. Bloodshed and gunfire have occasionally occurred there, but it has also been a venue for numerous talks and is a popular tourist spot.
The most famous incident at Panmunjom happened in August 1976, when two American army officers were killed by ax-wielding North Korean soldiers. The U.S. officers had been sent to trim a 40-foot-tall tree that obstructed the view from a checkpoint. The attack prompted Washington to fly nuclear-capable B-52 bombers toward the DMZ to intimidate North Korea.
But in recent years, some American civilians have been arrested in North Korea after allegedly entering the country from China. They were later convicted of espionage, subversion and other anti-state acts but were often released after the U.S. sent high-profile missions to secure their freedom.
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