US national detained in North Korea after illegally crossing border: UN

A United Nations body has said, a US national has been detained in North Korea after crossing the border. The United Nations Command, which operates the Demilitarized Zone and joint security area (JSA) said, the man did not have authorization. It said, he is currently in North Korea's custody and they are working with their KPA counterparts to resolve this incident.

 

The KPA is the Korean People's Army - North Korea's military. The Demilitarized Zone separates the two Koreas and is one of the most heavily fortified areas in the world. It is filled with landmines, surrounded by electric and barbed wire fencing and surveillance cameras. Armed guards are supposed to be on alert 24 hours a day.

 

The last time a soldier defected at the JSA was in 2017,



when a North Korean soldier drove a vehicle, and then ran by foot across the military demarcation line. The soldier was shot 40 times but survived.

 

Dozens of people try to escape North Korea every year, fleeing poverty and famine, but defections across the DMZ are extremely dangerous and rare.

 

There are currently six South Koreans in custody in North Korea.

 

Relations between the US and North Korea plummeted in 2017 after a US student who had been arrested a year earlier for stealing a propaganda sign was returned to the US in a comatose state and later died.

 

Three US citizens were later freed during the Donald Trump administration in 2018.