US soldier detained by North Korea after crossing heavily fortified border

SEOUL – North Korea has reportedly detained a serving US army soldier after he illegally crossed the heavily armed border from South Korea.

The Pentagon has identified the soldier as Private 2nd Class (PV2) Travis King, who joined the ranks in 2021 and was facing disciplinary action. 

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said the 23-year-old solider was on an orientation tour of Joint Security Area (JSA) on border between North and South Koreas when he made an unauthorised crossing. 

"We believe that he is in (North Korean) custody and so we're closely monitoring and investigating the situation and working to notify the soldier's next of kin," Austin told a briefing.

North Korea's state media has not shared any details about the incident. 

The incident comes at a time when the Washington was scrambling to deal with the North Korea, which on early Wednesday test fired two ballistic missiles into the sea.

The short-range missiles were fired from an area near its capital, Pyongyang, flying 550 km and 600 km before plunging into the sea off its east coast, South Korea's military said.

The UN Command (UNC), which oversees security for the border area, had made a hotline contact with the North Korea to discuss the US soldier’s detention.