An American citizen crossed the North Korean border during a guided tour and was arrested by Pyongyang authorities. This was reported Tuesday by the U.S.-led United Nations Command, which is in charge of monitoring the heavily guarded 38th parallel that separates the two Koreas, further aggravating tensions between the U.S. and North Korea.
The man, identified as a U.S. soldier, was visiting the Korean border village of Panmunjom and crossed the border into the North without authorization – being promptly stopped by local law enforcement officials.
A witness told CBS that he saw the man “giving out a loud ‘ha ha ha'” before running between some buildings in the direction of the North Korean border around 3:30 p.m. local time. “I thought it was a bad joke at first, but when he didn’t come back, I realised it wasn’t a joke, and then everybody reacted and things got crazy.”
A US official told CBS that the soldier was supposed to be returned to the US for disciplinary reasons, but after passing through airport security, he returned to the country and joined a tour at the border.
