US says it has been in contact with North Korea over missing soldier

After weeks of radio silence, Pyongyang has responded to inquiries about a missing American soldier, said the US government on Tuesday.
"I can confirm that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has responded to United Nations Command, but I don't have any substantial progress to read out and so I'd refer you to the UN Command for any further details," said US Defense Department spokesman Pat Ryder on Tuesday.
North Korea, he said, had essentially only confirmed that it had received the US request for information on the matter.
Previously however, Pyongyang had ignored all attempts by the US to contact it, according to US reports.
The case of the young US soldier who crossed into North Korea has bewildered observers for weeks.
The soldier had completed his deployment and should have returned home after spending time in a South Korean detention centre, Pentagon sources said. He had been threatened with "additional administrative measures" in the US.
The man had been escorted to the airport but disappeared before boarding the plane.
The man later joined a commercial tour of the border, where he broke away from the group and crossed the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that separates the two Korean nations, who are still officially at war since a conflict in the 1950s.
The US Department of Defense opened an investigation into the case.
There was no information on the young man's motives, what he was doing in the hours between leaving the airport and crossing into North Korea, and his current state or whereabouts, the Pentagon said most recently.
All that is known is that he is in the custody of the North Koreans.