An American was detained after crossing the border with North Korea during a tour

a US citizen trespassed into North Korea on Tuesday during a visit to the militarized border that separates the two Koreas and is currently in the hands of the North Korean military.

“A US citizen crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) into the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea’s official name) without authorization during an orientation tour,” the UN command said in a brief statement on Twitter. “We believe he is currently in custody in the DPRK and are working with our colleagues from the Korean People’s Army (KPA) to resolve this incident,” the text added.

The UN command is in charge of the southern edge of the Joint Security Area (JSA), the only point in the heart of the border where heavy troops from the two Koreas, technically still at war, are visible. Notice it does not clarify whether the American citizen was a tourist or a soldier.

The JSA has been the scene of defections in the past, although they almost always involved people trying to cross into South Korea. In 2017, a North Korean soldier made a spectacular escape in which his companions shot him several times, although he survived. In 1984, a student from the now-defunct Soviet Union defected to the South during a tourist visit, leading to a tragic exchange of fire between troops that ended in the deaths of three North Korean soldiers, one South Korean and one from the UN. Command.