SEOUL, July 21 (Reuters) - When U.S. soldier Travis King sprinted across the border into North Korea from the South this week, he disappeared into a North Korea where lingering COVID-19 concerns and restrictions have made the already secretive country more isolated than ever. Officials in Washington said North Korea had yet to give any response through a number of channels, including at the United Nations. North Korean border guards fatally shot and burned the body of a South Korean fisheries official near their disputed maritime border in 2020. North Korean guards at the site still shelter inside buildings, apparently to avoid the risk of catching COVID. But North Korea often seeks meetings with high-level American officials before any releases, and that could be complicated by their worries over COVID, he added.

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Persons: Travis King, King, Andrei Lankov, Lankov, Isaac Taylor, Kim Jong Un, Steve Tharp, COVID, Tharp, Bobby Hall, Josh Smith, Lincoln Organizations: Korea Risk, U.S, United Nations Command, United Nations, Security, U.S . Army, North, Thomson Locations: SEOUL, North Korea, Korea, Pyongyang, Seoul, U.S, United States, Washington, North Korean, Korean, South . Sweden, North