Crazy Details Emerge Surrounding Troubled U.S. Soldier Who Laughed While Running Off to North Korea
In the days since the news broke that a U.S. soldier ran to North Korea during a tour of the Demilitarized Zone, the media has come to better understand who he is, and the trouble he was in before he bolted into the rogue nation.
Travis King, a 23-year old second class Army private, was identified as the soldier who has been detained in North Korea after intentionally crossing into their border. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters that King’s crossing occurred “willfully and without authorization,” though he expressed the Pentagon’s concern for King’s welfare as they speak with North Korean officials about the incident.
CNN described King as “a cavalry scout who joined the military in January 2021. At the time of his rotation in South Korea, King was assigned to the 6th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division out of Fort Bliss, Texas.”
King’s flight to North Korea occurred as he was supposed to be flown back to Texas, where he was expected to face disciplinary action after nearly two months of being held at a South Korean detention facility. King was reportedly there on assault charges after multiple incidents, one being where he allegedly fought with a Korean national at a nightclub, and another where he was fined approximately $4,000 for damaging a police vehicle and refusing to cooperate with his arresting officers.
King was being escorted to his flight back to the U.S., but when his group got to a security checkpoint, King was somehow able to leave the airport, then he traveled 34 miles to the DMZ and joined up with a commercial tour group. As the tour made its way through the border town of Panmunjom, members of the group said that they noticed King running toward the North Korean side of the village, laughing as he crossed over.
“I noticed a guy running full gas towards the North Korean side,” New Zealand tourist Sarah Leslie told the media. “Everybody was stunned and shocked.”
It isn’t clear whether King’s run to North Korea was a defection or a whimsical decision, but reports have noted that tours of the area are tightly controlled by the United Nations, and guests are typically required to provide their information in advance. The task of recovering King from North Korean custody is complicated by the fact the U.S. just docked a nuclear submarine in South Korea, to which North Korea responded with missile launches.
Watch above via ABC.
