THE DRIVER of a silver vehicle has rammed into the the gates of the
US Embassy in the
South Korean capital of
Seoul. The driver is said to a
North Korean man who may have been seeking asylum at the US Embassy.
Pictures from the scene show a car with its front badly damaged after it ploughed into the gates of the embassy.
Unconfirmed reports said the man fell out of the vehicle before yelling "help me" several times.
He then told police: ”I wanted to leave the country and go to the United States.”
Meanwhile additional reports have claimed the man said he had "stories related to North Korea".
There is no suggestion that the incident is terror related.
Yonhap News TV reports at least one person was hurt in the incident outside the embassy at 7.15pm local time (11.15am BST).
The person, believed to be a woman in the passenger seat, has been taken to hospital for treatment.
Police said blood alcohol tests revealed the driver was not intoxicated when he rammed into the embassy's gates.
The news comes as South Korean officials and experts will visit North Korea this week to prepare for the opening of a liaison office in the North Korean city of Kaesong.
The team, led by the deputy minister of Unification Chun Hae-sung will leave for Kaesong on Friday to inspect facilities, Seoul’s Ministry of Unification said.
The two Koreas decided last week to open the office "in the near future" in view of an increase in cross-border trade, following the summit between leaders of South Korea and North Korea in April and May.
Donald Trump is also due to meet Kim Jong-un at a summit in Singapore on June 12.
Meanwhile Kim and his South Korean counterpart President Moon Jae-in have met twice in the truce of Panmunjom.
North Korea and South Korea are technically still at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce not a peace treaty.
In recent weeks Kim Jong-un has consolidating his his power at home by purging critical figures from the military in preparation for his meeting with US President Trump.
The North Korea leader earlier this month invited to journalist from around the world to witness the destruction of his nuclear test site in an apparent show of good faith before the summit.
Kim also has removed his top three military officers from their posts and replaced them with younger, more “moderate” figures, according to an unnamed intelligence source quoted by media in South Korea.
The officials removed were defence chief Pak Yong-sik, chief of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) Ry Myong-Su and director of the KPA’s general political bureau Kim Su-gil.
Pay Yong-sik has been replaced by the first minister of the Ministry of the People’s Armed Forces No Kwang-chol, while Ri Myong-Su has been replaced by his former deputy Ri Yong-gil.
Army general Kim Jong-gak has filled Kim Su-gil’s position.