The United Nations is said to be negotiating with North Korea over a US soldier who crossed the South Korean border with North Korea last week, but that appears not to be the case. A spokesman for the US State Department said 23-year-old Travis D., believed to be being held in North Korea.

Remko Brucker, professor of Korean studies at Leiden University, said the connection was obvious. North Korea has already confirmed that the messages were sent from the United Nations. That’s the organization that handles the border between North and South Korea,’ he explains. “But that’s all for now.”

This is also because North Korea and the US do not maintain diplomatic relations. This makes communication more difficult, Brooker says. “The two countries have no working relationship, no mutual embassies, and the US Department of State and Defense have not heard from North Korea,” he continued.

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According to Brooker, it remains to be seen how the case will proceed. North Korea is considered very unpredictable. “You never know with North Korea,” he says. So, he thinks, if there is no point in North Korea talks — if, for example, King becomes a fanatical supporter of the North Korean regime — then no talks will happen. “In all other cases yes, so I suspect there will be talk at the end.”

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According to Brooker, it remains to be seen how King’s experience will be in North Korea. If he has been arrested, it is reminiscent of American student Otto Warmbier, who was arrested in 2017 on suspicion of espionage. Warmbier was released after a year and a half in captivity – in a coma – and died in the US of brain damage caused by torture.

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However, according to Brooker, such a situation should be taken into account. “It’s one of the possibilities,” he says. “King will be prosecuted, or even prosecuted, and it will be difficult. It will be unpleasant. If he is completely unhelpful to the regime, he may be portrayed as a “bad American” who entered the country and committed acts of aggression. He is likely to face trial and punishment.