The United Nations Command has begun conversations with Pyongyang about U.S. Army Pv.t Travis King, who crossed the border into North Korea last week and was detained.
British Lt. Gen. Andrew Harrison, who serves as the deputy commander for the U.N. Command, confirmed the development at a Monday news conference in Seoul, South Korea, but he declined to provide additional details about King’s condition or when the conversations began.
Harrison said the conversations were happening through “mechanisms” set up under the 1953 armistice, which halted the fighting during the Korean War and the U.N. Command supervised. This could refer to the telephone line set up at the border truce village of Panmunjom that connected the U.N. Command and the North Korean People’s Army.
“None of us know where this is going to end,” Harrison added. “I am in life an optimist, and I remain optimistic. But again, I will leave it at that.”
King’s detainment came amid strained relations between the U.S. and North Korea. Pyongyang reportedly launched two short-range missiles last week in response to the U.S. docking a nuclear-armed sub in South Korea for the first time in decades.
North Korea has remained silent on King’s condition, but U.S. officials have expressed concern for his well-being.
Last Thursday, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters the U.S. was unaware of King’s whereabouts or conditions.
“We’re still doing everything we can to try to find out his whereabouts, his well-being and condition and making it clear that we want to see him safely and quickly returned to the United States,” Kirby said at the press conference.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also expressed concern for King’s well-being at the Aspen Security Forum, saying, “There are certainly concerns based on what we’ve seen in the past and the way that North Korea has treated those it’s detained.”
The Associated Press contributed.