SEOUL, July 18./TASS/. A US national has made an unauthorized crossing of the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and the Military Demarcation Line (DML) that serves as the border between the two Koreas, passing into North Korean territory, the United Nations Command in the Republic of Korea reported on Tuesday.

It said that the US citizen had been taking part in a tour of the Joint Security Area at the Panmunjom border point between South Korea and North Korea. Surmising that the US national was detained by the North Korean side, the UN Command reported that it was "working with our KPA [Korean People’s Army, North Korea’s military force - TASS] counterparts to resolve this incident."

According to the Dong-a Ilbo newspaper, the American is a US army private whose surname is Travis. There has been no official confirmation of this information yet.

Panmunjom is a small part of the DMZ that divides the peninsula, on the south side of which US and Republic of Korea troops are stationed on combat duty in South Korean territory. It is the only site on the inter-Korean border where military personnel from North and South are stationed within view of each other, only a few dozen meters apart.

In November 2017, a Korean People's Army soldier defected to South Korea in the DMZ, suffering gunshot wounds from the North Korean military.

The defector was taken to a hospital and was in a coma for several days. He survived, however, and has remained in South Korea.