An American soldier is now being held in North Korea after having crossed the Military Demarcation Line, according to U.S. officials.

The U.N. Command earlier said that a U.S. national on a tour to the joint security area between North and South Korea crossed the Military Demarcation Line without authorization and is now believed to be in detained in North Korea.

“A U.S. National on a JSA orientation tour crossed, without authorization, the Military Demarcation Line into the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK),” the peacekeeping force said in a tweet. “We believe he is currently in DPRK custody and are working with our Korean People’s Army counterparts to resolve this incident.”

They haven’t identified the soldier yet or explained how he/she came to cross the DMZ allegedly into North Korean territory, according to the report.

That’s a problem since we don’t have diplomatic or consular relations with North Korea, and it may be very difficult to get him back as we’ve seen with prior cases of Americans in North Korea. The State Department advises Americans not to go to North Korea because they might be detained just like this. It may be very difficult to get the soldier back.

Even before this incident, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan admitted that they haven’t had a lot of success with diplomatic engagement with North Korea.

Two days ago, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the Biden administration has been unsuccessful so far in its diplomatic engagement with North Koreapic.twitter.com/fYQyLY9S56

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 18, 2023

He said they’ve told the North Koreans that they’re willing to sit down without preconditions to talk about their nuclear program.

This is a developing story, and RedState working to provide complete coverage of news and updates that matter to conservatives. Updates will be shared as they become available.