Witness recounts US soldier's dash to North Korea

STORY: Leslie was in the Joint Security Area (JSA) of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) with some 40 other tourists who were walking around and taking photos in the moments before King made a mad dash to nuclear-armed and reclusive North Korea.

The group had just left one of the iconic blue buildings that straddles the border between the two Koreas and is used for negotiations, when King suddenly ran between the structures toward the North, she said.

The U.S. military was scrambling on Wednesday to determine King's fate after what officials said was a wilful, unauthorized crossing of the border into North Korea, throwing Washington into a new crisis in its dealings with the state.