American national crosses border from South Korea into North Korea

The UN Command tweeted that the US citizen was on a tour to the Korean border village of Panmunjom and crossed the border into the North without authorisation

Seoul: An American has crossed the heavily fortified border from South Korea into North Korea, the American-led UN Command overseeing the area said on Tuesday. The UN Command tweeted that the US citizen was on a tour to the Korean border village of Panmunjom and crossed the border into the North without authorisation.

It said he is currently in North Korean custody and that the UN 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 avoid political oppression and economic difficulties since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

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