TIME TO TALK

North Korea Now Speaking to UN Command About Travis King

The breakthrough has been confirmed almost a week after King fled across the border.

The deputy commander of the U.S.-led United Nations Command said Monday that talks have begun with North Korea about Travis King, the American soldier who fled into the hostile country last week. King’s unauthorized dash into North Korea on Tuesday created a new diplomatic headache in Washington, D.C., amid a period of rising tensions with Pyongyang. Conversations between the UNC and North Korea’s military about the 23-year-old are being conducted through a mechanism set up under the Korean War armistice, a British army officer serving as deputy commander of the UNC said. “The primary concern for us is Private King’s welfare,” Lt. Gen. Andrew Harrison said at a media briefing Monday. “The conversation has commenced with the KPA through the mechanisms of the Armistice agreement. I can’t say anything that could prejudice that process.”