Travis King: US probes if North Korea knew about defecting soldier as Army worried for his wellbeing

Soldier was expected to face military disciplinary action in US

US soldier who fled to North Korea had served time in a South Korean prison

The family of the US soldier who fled into North Korea say he was grieving the loss of his young cousin and was not acting like himself.

Private 2nd Class Travis King, 23, who was set to board a plane to return to the US, was on a South Korean civilian tour to the border village known as Panmunjom when he darted across the border.

He was pictured wearing jeans, a black shirt and a black hat with the letters “DMZ” printed on it just moments before he crossed the border to enter the secretive country.

The US army has said he intentionally crossed the border as he was facing disciplinary action on his return to the US after serving nearly two months in detention in South Korea. An investigation is underway to determine if there was prior knowledge of Mr King’s plan in North Korea.

Expressing deep concerns over the well-being of Mr King, his uncle Myron Gates told NBC News that defecting was “out of his character”.

“I’ve never seen him get down like that, ever. Something’s going on. This is not his personality.”

His mother said she was “shocked” and just wanted him to return home.

Key Points

• Report: US Army investigating prior North Korean knowledge of Travis King crossing border
• Army Secretary ‘worried’ for King in hands of North Korean authorities
• Tourist who spotted US soldier bolt to North Korea believed it was a prank
• King said his passport was missing as excuse to not get on flight

[20 July 2023 12:00 · Faiza Saqib]

What is the Joint Security Area?

The Joint Security Area (JSA), also known as Panmunjeom, is where the Armistice Agreement was signed in 1953 and is located in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ). It’s a place that has become one of the most visited tourist sites of the DMZ.

The border is also known as the “peace” or “truce” village and is made up of bright blue UN buildings.

Both the South and North Korean sides are heavily policed by military officers.

Can you visit the JSA?

The area is under heavy surveillance, but people can visit through tours.

To enter the JSA, visitors much pass through multiple checkpoints before arriving at Camp Bonifas. Visitors must either be escorted by either US or South Korean Soldiers.

[20 July 2023 13:00 · Gustaf Kilander]

Tourist who spotted US soldier bolt to North Korea believed it was a prank

A tourist from New Zealand who was visiting the DMZ between North and South Korea thought it was a stunt when she saw a supposed member of her tour group sprint towards the north.

It quickly became clear that the incident was no prank, but instead a daring escape by a US soldier who had fled a Seoul airport and somehow joined the tour group as he was facing possible disciplinary measures at home.

Sarah Leslie told the AP that Travis King, 23, was out of uniform, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, and she had no clue that he was a soldier, or in legal jeopardy.

Mr King, 23, had spent close to two months in a South Korean prison for assault before he was released on 10 July and was set to head back to Fort Bliss in Texas on Monday where he may have been discharged and possibly be the subject of further military discipline.

Ms Leslie told the news agency that her group went further than other tours as they visited the Joint Security Area in the village of Panmunjom, meaning that the tourists were essentially stepping onto North Korean soil in one of the buildings which is controlled jointly by the two nations.

[20 July 2023 14:00 · Shweta Sharma and Gustaf Kilander]

Mother of US soldier Travis King who crossed into North Korea speaks out: ‘Just want him home’

The mother of the American soldier who illegally crossed into North Korea said she was “shocked” and just wanted him to return home.

Meanwhile, his uncle has said that he was “breaking down” following the death of his seven-year-old cousin.

Private 2nd Class Travis King, who is in his early 20s, crossed the heavily fortified inter-Korean border to enter North Korea where he is believed to be detained. The incident has threatened a new diplomatic row and a crisis with the nuclear-armed state.

His mother, Claudine Gates, who lives in Racine, Wisconsin, told ABC News that she heard from her son “a few days ago”.

“I can’t see Travis doing anything like that,” Ms Gates said, adding that she was taken aback when she was told her son had crossed into North Korea.

[20 July 2023 15:00 · Shweta Sharma]

US says North Korea still hasn’t responded to attempts at contact over defecting soldier

North Korea has so far ignored the US’s efforts to “reach out” to the Korean People’s Army (KPA) to determine the fate of a soldier who fled to the secretive country.

Washington, which shares deteriorated ties with Pyongyang, scrambled to establish communication with the North Korean regime after Private Second Class Travis King, 23, fled into North Korea by crossing the heavily fortified inter-Korea border from South Korea during a civilian tour.

The US State Department said it attempted to establish contact with its North Korean counterparts in the KPA on Wednesday about Travis King, but the outreach went unanswered.

[20 July 2023 15:40 · Oliver O'Connell]

Report: US Army investigating prior North Korean knowledge of Travis King crossing border

The US Army is investigating whether North Korean authorities had prior knowledge of Private Travis King’s intention to cross the border from South Korea this week, according to a report.

Documents seen by The Messenger provide the most detailed account so far of the events leading up to the moment Mr King ran across the Demilitarized Zone and into the territory of one of the US’s greatest enemies.

A US military official familiar with the investigation, speaking on condition of anonymity due to a lack of authorisation, told The Messenger that the possibility that the North Koreans had prior knowledge of Mr King’s intention to cross the border is being considered.

Read on...

[20 July 2023 16:00 · Shweta Sharma]

‘Something’s wrong with him’: Family of US soldier detained in North Korea speak out

[20 July 2023 17:00 · Shweta Sharma]

From Otto Warmbier to Kenneth Bae: The US nationals arrested by North Korea

US soldier Travis King was detained in North Korea on Tuesday (18 July) after crossing into the country “wilfully and without authorisation,” US authorities said.

Colonel Isaac Taylor of the United States Forces Korea Public Affairs told The Independent: “A US Service member on a JSA orientation tour wilfully and without authorisation crossed the Military Demarcation Line into the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

“We believe he is currently in DPRK custody and are working with our KPA [Korean People’s Army] counterparts to resolve this incident.”

Faiza Saqib writes about the US nationals arrested in North Korea

[20 July 2023 18:00 · AP]

Tourist who saw US soldier sprint to North Korea initially thought it was a stunt

Sarah Leslie thought she was witnessing a stunt when she saw an American soldier start sprinting toward North Korea.

Leslie and her father, tourists from New Zealand, were part of a group that left Tuesday morning from Seoul to visit the Demilitarized Zone that divides South and North Korea.

Private 2nd Class Travis King was among the group of 43 tourists, Leslie told The Associated Press, although he was casually dressed in jeans and a T-shirt and she had no idea at the time that he was a soldier, or in legal trouble.

King, 23, was a cavalry scout with the 1st Armored Division who had served nearly two months in a South Korean prison for assault. He was released on July 10 and was supposed to travel home Monday to Fort Bliss, Texas, where he could have faced additional military discipline and discharge from the service.

Leslie said her tour group went a step further than many by visiting the Joint Security Area in the village of Panmunjom, allowing tourists to effectively step on North Korean soil inside one of the buildings, which are jointly held. To get on such a tour, she said, required submitting their passports and getting permits in advance.

[20 July 2023 19:00 · AP]

South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff condemn North Korean missile launches as ‘major provocation’

The flight distance of the North Korean missiles roughly matched the distance between Pyongyang and the South Korean port city of Busan, where the USS Kentucky arrived Tuesday afternoon in the first visit by a U.S. nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea since the 1980s.

Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada told reporters that the North Korean missiles traveled on a low trajectory, with their maximum altitude reaching about 50 kilometers (31 miles), and possibly demonstrated “irregular maneuver” in flight.

Japan has previously used similar language to describe the flight characteristics of a North Korean weapon modeled after Russia’s Iskander missile, which travels at low altitudes and is designed to be maneuverable in flight to improve its chances of evading missile defenses.

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff condemned the North Korean launches as “major provocation” that threatens peace and stability in the region and said the South Korean and U.S. militaries were closely monitoring the North for further weapons activities.

[20 July 2023 20:00 · Oliver O'Connell]

Tensions have risen in the region in recent months

Wednesday’s launches marked the North’s first ballistic activity since July 12, when it flight-tested a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile that demonstrated potential range to reach deep into the U.S. mainland. That launch was supervised by the country’s authoritarian leader Kim Jong Un, who vowed to further bolster his country’s nuclear fighting capabilities in the face of expanding U.S.-South Korean military activities, which he blamed for worsening the security environment on the Korean Peninsula.

Tensions have risen in the region in recent months as the pace of both North Korean weapons tests and U.S.-South Korean joint military drills have increased in a cycle of tit-for-tat.

Since the start of 2022, North Korea has test-fired around 100 missiles while attempting to demonstrate a dual ability to conduct nuclear attacks on both South Korea and the continental United States. The allies in response have stepped up their joint military training and agreed to increase the deployments of U.S. strategic assets like long-range bombers, aircraft carriers and submarines to the region.

AP