‘No contact’ after US soldier runs across border to North Korea

King, a junior enlisted soldier assigned to US Forces Korea, had confronted assault prices in South Korea and was because of be faraway from the US army upon his return to Fort Bliss, Texas.

But whereas he cleared customs, he didn’t get on the aircraft as scheduled on Monday, US officers advised CNN. His escorts couldn’t accompany him all the best way to the gate to confirm that he had boarded. Instead, on Tuesday, he booked a tour with a non-public firm of the Joint Security Area contained in the demilitarised zone, which divides North and South Korea.

As vacationers milled about taking images, King inexplicably made a run for it throughout the demarcation line into North Korea, an eyewitness on the identical tour and US officers acquainted with the case advised CNN. Unlike a lot of the closely fortified zone, which is 160 miles lengthy and a pair of.5 miles extensive, the precise border line between North and South Korea contained in the JSA doesn’t have a bodily barrier.

King at first tried to enter Panmungak Hall, which is a North Korean facility within the Joint Security Area, one of many US officers mentioned. But the entrance door was locked – so he ran to the again of the constructing, at which level he was hurried right into a van and pushed away by North Korean guards, the official mentioned.

“Get him!” a soldier on the South Korean aspect yelled, in response to the eyewitness, Sarah Leslie. But it was too late.

“He was going so fast, and we were so close to the border, that he was gone by then,” Leslie added.

It wasn’t till in a while Tuesday, when King didn’t confirmed up at Fort Bliss, that the US army first realised he was lacking. South Korean immigration officers additionally confirmed to the US that King by no means boarded the aircraft, the US official advised CNN.

Officials throughout the US authorities are actually attempting to piece collectively what may need motivated King, a US nationwide, to willfully and with out prior authorisation cross into one of the vital hostile international locations on earth.

On Wednesday, the White House mentioned it was nonetheless working to find out precisely the place King is, and what his situation is.

“We are still gathering all the facts, it is still very early on,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre mentioned.

“The administration has and will continue to actively work to ensure his safety and the return of Private King to us and to his family.”

She mentioned the administration was working with the federal government of South Korea, together with Sweden, on the matter. Sweden usually represents US pursuits in North Korea as a result of the US and North Korea haven’t any diplomatic ties.

The US army has tried reaching out on to the North Korean authorities to resolve the difficulty, officers mentioned, however they haven’t but obtained any response. The US believes he’s nonetheless in North Korean custody however they don’t have any particulars on his well-being or whether or not he’s alive.

King “made a run across the demilitarised zone in the Joint Security Area, was picked up by the North Koreans, and we’ve had no contact at this point,” Admiral John Aquilino, commander of US Indo-Pacific Command, mentioned on the Aspen Security Forum on Tuesday.

“But we’re still doing our investigation to find out exactly what happened.”

Assault prices in South Korea

Just over every week earlier than making his sprint throughout the border, King was launched from a detention facility in South Korea, the place he had served 50 days doing laborious labour, protection officers advised CNN.

The punishment seems to stem from an incident in October of 2022, when King allegedly pushed and repeatedly punched a sufferer within the face in a membership in Mapo-gu, Seoul, in response to a court docket doc from the Seoul Western District Court. He was additionally accused of assault in September and was consequently transferred to US army police, however these prices have been finally dropped.

“His assault case was similar to other cases I’ve represented of young drunk men,” one of many South Korean legal professionals who represented King advised CNN. He mentioned his impression of King was that he “looked like a normal guy in his early 20s.”

Before his time within the detention facility, King had been discovered responsible throughout a army court docket martial listening to in South Korea associated to assault and different prices, a defence official advised CNN. King had been demoted in rank, the official mentioned, although it is unclear if that got here earlier than or after the court docket martial.

King’s mom, Claudine Gates, advised ABC that she was “shocked” by the truth that King had crossed into North Korea.

“I can’t see Travis doing anything like that,” Gates advised ABC, including that she heard from her son a number of days in the past, when he advised her that he can be returning to his base in Fort Bliss.

At the time of his rotation in South Korea, King had no deployments on his report, and was assigned to the sixth Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division out of Fort Bliss, Texas, in response to Army spokesperson Bryce Dubee.

His army awards embody routine decorations supplied to troopers together with his rank and expertise – the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Defense Service Medal, and the Overseas Service Ribbon.