CNN is
learning more about the American soldier
now detained in North Korea.
A U.S.
defense official says
the soldier was
facing disciplinary action
by the US military
before he crossed the demarcation
line into North Korea.
The official says
he was about to be sent back
to the United States.
We're told
he was not in uniform at the time
and was on some kind of a tour.
CNN's Mark Stewart,
Natasha Bertrand and Kylie Atwood
are joining us now.
Natasha, I want to begin with you.
So we've learned that
this soldier was assigned to the U.S.
forces, Korea.
What else do we know about him
and this discipline that he was facing?
Well, not a lot.
Sarah, essentially
what we're learning at
this point is that he was a junior
enlisted soldier
and he was assigned to U.S. forces Korea.
And he was taking a tour of the joint
security area
in the DMZ,
at which point
he appears to have crossed over
that demarcation line
into North Korea voluntarily.
And I'll just read you a statement
that we got from U.S.
forces Korea, which says that a U.S.
service member on a GSA
joint security area
orientation tour willfully
and without authorization crossed
the military demarcation line
into the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea.
Now, the U.S.
military does at this point
believe that he is still in
North Korean custody and interestingly,
the military says that they are in touch
with their Korean people's
army, that the North Korean military
counterparts
to try to resolve this issue.
But what we are learning
is that this soldier was apparently
facing disciplinary action by the U.S.
military,
and he was actually set to be sent back
to the United States.
Before he actually went on
this tour and ended up
crossing that demarcation line again,
apparently voluntarily and willfully.
So Pentagon officials, officials across
the administration
are trying
to gather more information
on why exactly he crossed that line.
But obviously,
this new information
about the potential disciplinary action
he was facing
adds a new dimension
to all of this, guys.
It definitely adds a new wrinkle.
Natasha, thank you.
Mark,
what are the one question
when we were learning about this
this morning,
as if he had crossed over accidentally
What are the chances of crossing over
accidentally into North Korea?
There
Well,
I think a lot of people
may be surprised to know
that there are public tours
that Americans
visiting in South Korea
can actually tour
the DMZ and this joint security area.
I have done so.
And I will tell you,
there is no question
where these boundaries are located.
It is very delineated,
these territorial boundaries,
that line of demarcation is very clear.
And oftentimes
there are a lot of military personnel,
often with you when you go on these tours
so there's
no there's no question
exactly the location of all of this.
This is an area
that is patrolled or maintained,
if you will,
by United Nations forces,
which in many cases
are American soldiers.
And then on
the other side of this territorial line,
you have North Koreans.
Natasha Bertrand brought up the point
that discussions
are now taking place
between these forces and North Korea.
It is interesting to note
that there is actually a phone line
that has been established
that was established historically
where United Nations forces
could call up and reach out to
North Korean forces.
It is not clear
if that's the channel
that's being used here,
but that's a historical protocol
that has been in place.
Finally again,
this is not an area
where you can accidentally wander.
There are a lot of military personnel,
military personnel who are not armed
and in case
someone does decide to venture over.
United Nations forces have strict orders
not to intervene.
There is really nothing
that they can do now in calling out.
Let's go to you at the State Department
to sort of tie this all up.
Based on Natasha's new reporting
that this was a soldier
facing discipline.
What's the posture
of the State Department toward what's
happening right now?
Well, listen,
given that
this is a soldier
who is actively serving in the U.S.
forces, South Korea,
which we should note,
there's about
28,000 soldiers who serve in those forces
based in South Korea.
The State Department is really pointing
to the Pentagon right now
and allowing them to take the lead
in terms
of sharing with us information
about how this incident evolved.
But I think it's also important
to note that,
you know, this soldier
on this tour presumably wasn't
with a group of other Americans,
a group of other American soldiers.
And so, therefore, the U.S.
is going to be heavily
reliant on the U.N.
command in this area, which tries
to preserve the stability
in the area
between North and South Korea.
These tours happen to show folks
that what there is
there is some sort of stability,
even though there's this tension
between North Korea and South Korea.
It's also
important to note
that before today,
before this incident occurred,
there weren't
any Americans that we knew of
who were detained in North Korea.
There was, of course, Otto Warmbier,
who is released
by the North Koreans in 2017.
And then there were three other Americans
who were detained by North Korea,
at least in 2018.
And then, of course,
we saw the Trump
administration really engage
with North Korea
between President Trump and Kim
Jong un with those series of summits
that we saw.
That has not been the situation
during the Biden administration.
There hasn't
been regular
diplomatic contact
between the US
and the North Koreans right now.
So in terms of the contact
that's occurring at this moment in time,
as Natasha was saying,
it is the Pentagon
that is taking the lead.
And of course we're working to learn
if there are other avenues
that the US is also reaching out
to North Korea,
trying to use potentially
you know, its allies, South Korea,
potentially China.
And also, of course, you know, U.S.
diplomats.
Kylie, when is it clear to you
you're getting a sense of it
as the Pentagon is taking the lead
right now?
If this becomes a State
Department problem
or when it becomes
when the State Department starts
stepping in to try to assist
to get this soldier back
Yeah.
Well, the State Department would step in
if this becomes a case of an American
who is wrongfully detained
by North Korea.
And we can't make that assessment
definitively right now.
But based on the information that we have
gathered,
the fact that the Pentagon is saying
that this soldier
willfully crossed
over this demarcation line,
it appears that it would be
well within North Korea's capability
to detain
someone who has crossed over
without getting any authorization to.
So that wouldn't, as far as we can tell
right now,
amount to a situation
where it would be
American who is wrongfully detained,
who did absolutely nothing wrong
to be detained by the North Korean side.
But when it comes to these matters,
of course, you know, U.S.
diplomats are always trying
to figure out ways to care for Americans
abroad.
That is the actual
reason that there are consular
officers here at the State Department
but exactly how involved
they get,
really, the situation itself will
dictate that.