On July 18, 2023, American soldier Travis King, who was recently released from military detention in South Korea and was being escorted out of the country for disciplinary reasons, somehow managed to join a tour group at the border and crossed into North Korea

King has been taken into custody by North Korean authorities

The White House, Defense Department, State Department and United Nations are working to get more information and resolve the situation

In response to two alleged defections of North Korean diplomats in Russia and Europe respectively, North Korea is ordering diplomatic consulates to make changes to the management system for overseas personnel to ascertain their locations at all times and respond immediately to problems.

According to a source from Daily NK, Pyongyang is issuing two or more orders a week regarding policies aimed at preventing defections. As a result, “Overseas personnel are always under an atmosphere of insecurity when these kinds of orders or policies are issued because they never know when they’ll get called back home.”

The new orders also include increasing inspections of overseas personnel from once to three times per day.

North Korean authorities further discussed the deployment of more Ministry of State Security agents overseas to investigate and monitor its citizens living abroad.

Pyongyang issued a statement accusing the United Nations nuclear watchdog after the International Atomic Energy Agency (“IAEA”) approved Tokyo’s plan to release around 1.2 million tons of treated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean this summer.

North Korea’s Land and Environment Protection Department stated that, “The just international community must not sit and watch the evil, anti-humanitarian and belligerent action by the corrupt force that is trying to disrupt humanity’s home of the blue planet – and must unite to thoroughly stop and destroy them.”

In particular, the North claimed that the IAEA has no legal justification for discharging the nuclear-tainted water.

North Korea’s statement came after neighboring countries such as South Korea, China and the Pacific Islands raised concerns relating to potential harm to the environment and public health.

A 25-year-old North Korean student studying at the prestigious Far Eastern State Transport University in Khabarovsk, Kim Tae-sung, was found missing in a possible defection attempt on July 8.

Sources told Radio Free Asia that Kim might have escaped when the overseas North Korean community was mourning on July 8, the anniversary of the 1994 passing of Kim Il-sung.

Kim appeared to have resided in Russia for many years, and as Pyongyang has maintained a strict border closure since the pandemic, many North Koreans living abroad have been unable to return home for years.

A poster published on Russian social media platform that helps locate missing persons stated that, “We received a paper copy of the police’s missing person notice and now are working with the police, providing information support.”

Although the DPRK consulate’s office in Khabarovsk did not reveal any detail concerning the incident, it appeared to confirm its awareness of the case.

Russian public security authorities are continuing to search for Kim.

North Korea recently launched a Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile which flew for more than 70 minutes before landing in waters near to Japan.

Despite being under United Nations sanctions for its missile and nuclear programs since 2006, Pyongyang claimed to have exercised its right to self-defense “to deter dangerous military moves of hostile forces and safeguard the security of our state.”

North Korean state media reported that the launch was conducted “at a grave period when the military security situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the region has reached the phase of nuclear crisis beyond the Cold War era as the US and its vassal forces’ unprecedented military provocations against the DPRK have been intensified.”

China and Russia blamed the United States and South Korea for provoking the North with their joint military drills.