American In North Korean Custody After Crossing DMZ

The Associated Press reports:

An American has crossed the heavily fortified border from South Korea into North Korea, the American-led U.N. Command overseeing the area said Tuesday, amid heightened tensions over North Korea’s nuclear program. The U.N. Command tweeted that the U.S. citizen was on a tour to the Korean border village of Panmunjom and crossed the border into the North without authorization.

It said he is currently in North Korean custody and that the U.N. Command is working with its North Korean counterparts to resolve the incident. It gave no further details on who the person is or why he crossed the border. Cases of Americans or South Koreans defecting to North Korea are rare, though more than 30,000 North Koreans have fled to South Korea to since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

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The UN Command says an American national has crossed the border from South Korea into North Korea while on a tour to a Korean border village (via AP) https://t.co/4tKWfxC5Fe

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