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Martin Pengelly “US citizen crosses border from South Korea into North Korea” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/18/us-citizen-crosses-border-from-south-korea-into-north-korea

板門店 *1で米国籍の男性が北朝鮮側へ越境し、北朝鮮に捕らえられた。確実に言えるのはこのくらいなのだった。上掲の記事では”US citizen”となっているけれど、本文は

A US soldier who crossed into North Korea during a tour of the demilitarised zone (DMZ) on Tuesday was believed to have been taken into custody, creating a fresh headache for the Joe Biden White House amid heightened tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions.

と始まる。

UN Command, which oversees the DMZ between South Korea and North Korea, said: “A US national on a [joint security area] orientation tour crossed, without authorisation, the military demarcation line into the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“We believe he is currently in DPRK custody and are working with our [Korean People’s Army] counterparts to resolve this incident.”
US officials told news outlets the individual who crossed into North Korea was a US soldier. An official told Reuters the soldier crossed into North Korea “willfully and without authorization”.
South Korean media named the individual, then deleted the name from reports. According to Reuters, the Donga and Chosun Ilbo newspapers cited South Korean army sources when they said the man was with a group of visitors, including civilians, to the Panmunjom truce village “when he suddenly bolted over the brick line marking the border”.

米軍関係者のコメントというのは非公式なもので、韓国駐留米軍及び国連軍のスポーク素パーソンであるアイザック・テイラー大佐は件の人物が「米兵」であるか否かの確証を避けている。
記事の最後の方では、北朝鮮に捕らえられた米国人として、2017年末に昏睡状態のまま米国に帰国した直後に亡くなったオットー・ワームビア*2の記憶が喚起されている。また、DMZを越えて北朝鮮に投降した有名な米兵には、2017年に日本で亡くなったチャールズ・ジェンキンス *3がいる。