US says no 'substantive' communication with NKorea on American soldier crossing border

By Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US has not engaged in any significant communication with North Korea concerning an American soldier who crossed the inter-Korean border into the reclusive state last week, State Department said on Monday.

"We have not had any substantive communications with North Korea," Spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters during his press briefing.

"We have made outreach to North Korea to let them know that we wanted to ascertain the whereabouts of Private King, we wanted information about his safety, but we have not received any response from them at all," he said.

"It is my understanding that there has been no new communication since last week. Communications that happened in the early days," he said in response to a question on whether there has been any communication with Pyongyang.

American soldier Pvt. Travis King remains in North Korean custody after crossing the heavily militarized border separating the Koreas on Sunday. He was reportedly on his way back to the US to face disciplinary action after spending time in a South Korean military prison on assault charges.

Miller last week said the US has delivered messages to North Korea, indicating that King had crossed the border on his own and requested more information about his well-being.