The military said Washington had put all its efforts into communicating with Pyongyang, including through United Nations communication channels.
In the first public comment on the case, US Army Secretary Christine Wermott said it was not yet clear why King crossed the border into North Korea, but she suggested he was likely worried he would face further disciplinary action from the military upon his return to the United States.
She added, “She has no information to prove that the 23-year-old recruit is a North Korean sympathizer.”
“I’m honestly worried about him,” Warmmut told the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado, citing what happened to college student Otto Warmbier who was held in North Korea for 17 months before he died in 2017 shortly after he was returned to the United States in a comatose state.
“I’m worried about the way they might treat him. So we want him back,” she added.
North Korea has been silent about King, and US officials say Pyongyang has not responded to US military communications regarding the soldier.
North Korean state media, which has reported in the past about the detention of US citizens, has not commented on the incident so far.
King was on a civilian tour of Panmunjom, known as the Armistice Village, on Tuesday when he crossed the military demarcation line that has separated the two Koreas since the end of the Korean War in 1953.
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