A 23-year-old American soldier, became the first U.S. citizen to cross into and be detained in North Korea in nearly five years, triggering a new wave of diplomatic complications between Pyongyang and Washington amidst tensions over the North’s nuclear ambitions. According to U.S. and United Nations officials, Travis King illegally crossed the Military Demarcation Line while he was on a civilian tour of the Joint Security Area at Panmunjom.

Witnesses who also joined the tour described being confused as to what was happening as King “gives out a loud ‘ha ha ha,’ and just runs in between some buildings,” thinking “it was a bad joke at first, but when he didn’t come back, I realized it wasn’t a joke, and then everybody reacted and things got crazy.” 

TROUBLED SOLDIER

The private second class soldier served nearly two months in a South Korean prison for assault. South Korean media reported that King, having received three medals while serving in the military, allegedly punched someone in the face repeatedly while drinking at a club in Seoul last September and broke the door of a police patrol car last October. He was released from the detention facility on July 10 and scheduled to return home to Texas to face additional disciplinary actions. However, after King was escorted to Incheon International Airport, he somehow managed to escape and leave the terminal to join a group with 43 tourists at the Demilitarized Zone (“DMZ”). Since the military escort had no ticket and could only enter as far as the customs checkpoint, King continued into the terminal alone before leaving Incheon altogether. Dressed casually in jeans and a T-shirt, King bolted across the border at the end of the DMZ tour before soldiers standing guard on the South Korean side had time to respond. A witness, Sarah Leslie, commented that she did not see any guards on the North Korean side and was told by her tour guides that the army there had decreased its presence at the DMZ since the beginning of the pandemic.

Although it remains unclear if King planned to defect or if he escaped to North Korea on a whim, experts say that the DMZ trip to Panmunjom takes days of planning and tours require participants to submit their passports in advance in order to secure a permit prior to the day of the tour.

WHERE IS HE NOW?

Not much is known about King’s current state or what sort of consequences he might face in North Korea. Nevertheless, U.S. Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, confirmed the incident and stated that, “We believe that he is in [North Korean] custody and so we’re closely monitoring and investigating the situation and working to notify the soldier’s next of kin.” In particular, Austin said that “I’m absolutely foremost concerned about the welfare of our troop” as there has yet to be an announcement made by the North regarding the incident. King’s mother, Claudine Gates, told ABC News that she was shocked when she heard her son had crossed into North Korea as she had last heard from King “a few days ago” when he told her about his imminent return to his base in Fort Bliss, “I can’t see Travis doing anything like that.” Gates pleaded that “I just want him to come home, come back to America.”

Interestingly, four American soldiers – 19-year-old Larry Allen Abshier, 21-year-old James Joseph Dresnok, 19-year-old Jerry Wayne Parrish, and 24-year-old Charles Robert Jenkins – voluntarily defected to North Korea in the 1960s. They managed to survive custody and were eventually used as propaganda puppets in the North, including some of them as actors playing American villains in films. It therefore “wouldn’t be surprising if North Korea tries to score some propaganda points or makes demands in exchange for handing over the soldier,” commented NPR’s Greg Myre, who opined that Kim Jong-un may endeavor to leverage the incident for political gain.

CAN THE U.S. BRING HIM HOME?

Although Peter Ward, a senior researcher on North Korea at Kookmin University in Seoul suggested that “Americans who are detained by North Korea generally get out eventually, whereas South Koreans who are detained generally don’t,” returning to the U.S. from North Korea is no easy matter. Given that North Korean officials “haven’t been engaging with the outside world” in the last few years, any form of negotiation between the two countries, even with the use of captive Americans as bargaining tools, would be deemed a diplomatic challenge. As of today, Washington’s efforts to contact Pyongyang and secure the return of King are met with silence as the nation awaits North Korea’s response.