SEOUL Conversations have begun between the United Nations Command and North Korea over the case of U.S. soldier Travis King who crossed into the North, the deputy commander of the U.S.-led multinational command that oversees the Korean War truce said on Monday.

The conversation had been initiated and were being conducted with North Korea's military through a mechanism established under the Korean War armistice, U.N. Command deputy commander, Lieutenant General Andrew Harrison, told a briefing.

"The primary concern for us is private King's welfare," he said.

King, a U.S. Army soldier serving in South Korea, sprinted into North Korea on Tuesday while on a civilian tour of the Demilitarized Zone on the border between the two Koreas.

(Reporting by Hyunsu Yim; Writing by Jack Kim; Editing by Ed Davies)