Detaining a US soldier moves North Korea up the priority list, our North America correspondent says.
North Korea hasn't been much of a foreign policy priority for Joe Biden's administration since he took office in January 2021, but recent escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula are moving it up the list.
The incident comes on the day that a US nuclear missile submarine, the USS Kentucky, arrived in the South Korean port of Busan - a visible demonstration of US military strength that had angered the North Koreans. The motives behind the American soldier's decision to enter North Korea are unclear, although US officials have said that he was facing military disciplinary proceedings. What is apparent, however, is that his presence gives the North Koreans, and its volatile leader Kim Jong Un, a new bargaining chip to use when dealing with the US.
During Donald Trump's presidency, US-North Korea relations warmed somewhat after a heated start, as the American president made unprecedented overtures toward Mr Kim.
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