CNN is learning more about the American soldier now detained in North Korea. A U.S. defense official says the soldier was facing disciplinary action by the US military before he crossed the demarcation line into North Korea. The official says he was about to be sent back to the United States. We're told he was not in uniform at the time and was on some kind of a tour. CNN's Mark Stewart, Natasha Bertrand and Kylie Atwood are joining us now. Natasha, I want to begin with you. So we've learned that this soldier was assigned to the U.S. forces, Korea. What else do we know about him and this discipline that he was facing? Well, not a lot. Sarah, essentially what we're learning at this point is that he was a junior enlisted soldier and he was assigned to U.S. forces Korea. And he was taking a tour of the joint security area in the DMZ, at which point he appears to have crossed over that demarcation line into North Korea voluntarily. And I'll just read you a statement that we got from U.S. forces Korea, which says that a U.S. service member on a GSA joint security area orientation tour willfully and without authorization crossed the military demarcation line into the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Now, the U.S. military does at this point believe that he is still in North Korean custody and interestingly, the military says that they are in touch with their Korean people's army, that the North Korean military counterparts to try to resolve this issue. But what we are learning is that this soldier was apparently facing disciplinary action by the U.S. military, and he was actually set to be sent back to the United States. Before he actually went on this tour and ended up crossing that demarcation line again, apparently voluntarily and willfully. So Pentagon officials, officials across the administration are trying to gather more information on why exactly he crossed that line. But obviously, this new information about the potential disciplinary action he was facing adds a new dimension to all of this, guys. It definitely adds a new wrinkle. Natasha, thank you. Mark, what are the one question when we were learning about this this morning, as if he had crossed over accidentally What are the chances of crossing over accidentally into North Korea? There Well, I think a lot of people may be surprised to know that there are public tours that Americans visiting in South Korea can actually tour the DMZ and this joint security area. I have done so. And I will tell you, there is no question where these boundaries are located. It is very delineated, these territorial boundaries, that line of demarcation is very clear. And oftentimes there are a lot of military personnel, often with you when you go on these tours so there's no there's no question exactly the location of all of this. This is an area that is patrolled or maintained, if you will, by United Nations forces, which in many cases are American soldiers. And then on the other side of this territorial line, you have North Koreans. Natasha Bertrand brought up the point that discussions are now taking place between these forces and North Korea. It is interesting to note that there is actually a phone line that has been established that was established historically where United Nations forces could call up and reach out to North Korean forces. It is not clear if that's the channel that's being used here, but that's a historical protocol that has been in place. Finally again, this is not an area where you can accidentally wander. There are a lot of military personnel, military personnel who are not armed and in case someone does decide to venture over. United Nations forces have strict orders not to intervene. There is really nothing that they can do now in calling out. Let's go to you at the State Department to sort of tie this all up. Based on Natasha's new reporting that this was a soldier facing discipline. What's the posture of the State Department toward what's happening right now? Well, listen, given that this is a soldier who is actively serving in the U.S. forces, South Korea, which we should note, there's about 28,000 soldiers who serve in those forces based in South Korea. The State Department is really pointing to the Pentagon right now and allowing them to take the lead in terms of sharing with us information about how this incident evolved. But I think it's also important to note that, you know, this soldier on this tour presumably wasn't with a group of other Americans, a group of other American soldiers. And so, therefore, the U.S. is going to be heavily reliant on the U.N. command in this area, which tries to preserve the stability in the area between North and South Korea. These tours happen to show folks that what there is there is some sort of stability, even though there's this tension between North Korea and South Korea. It's also important to note that before today, before this incident occurred, there weren't any Americans that we knew of who were detained in North Korea. There was, of course, Otto Warmbier, who is released by the North Koreans in 2017. And then there were three other Americans who were detained by North Korea, at least in 2018. And then, of course, we saw the Trump administration really engage with North Korea between President Trump and Kim Jong un with those series of summits that we saw. That has not been the situation during the Biden administration. There hasn't been regular diplomatic contact between the US and the North Koreans right now. So in terms of the contact that's occurring at this moment in time, as Natasha was saying, it is the Pentagon that is taking the lead. And of course we're working to learn if there are other avenues that the US is also reaching out to North Korea, trying to use potentially you know, its allies, South Korea, potentially China. And also, of course, you know, U.S. diplomats. Kylie, when is it clear to you you're getting a sense of it as the Pentagon is taking the lead right now? If this becomes a State Department problem or when it becomes when the State Department starts stepping in to try to assist to get this soldier back Yeah. Well, the State Department would step in if this becomes a case of an American who is wrongfully detained by North Korea. And we can't make that assessment definitively right now. But based on the information that we have gathered, the fact that the Pentagon is saying that this soldier willfully crossed over this demarcation line, it appears that it would be well within North Korea's capability to detain someone who has crossed over without getting any authorization to. So that wouldn't, as far as we can tell right now, amount to a situation where it would be American who is wrongfully detained, who did absolutely nothing wrong to be detained by the North Korean side. But when it comes to these matters, of course, you know, U.S. diplomats are always trying to figure out ways to care for Americans abroad. That is the actual reason that there are consular officers here at the State Department but exactly how involved they get, really, the situation itself will dictate that.
