Private Travis T. King joined the U.S. Army in 2021 and was facing disciplinary action before he crossed the inter-Korean border into North Korea. He previously pled guilty to an October incident that involved assault and damaging a police car.
After traveling to the airport to return home, King joined a civilian tour of the DMZ instead of heading to his gate. It remains unclear if the additional charges he was facing in the U.S. are connected to the October incident. U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said King wilfully crossed into North Korea while touring the Joint Security Area (JSA). North Korea’s state media has not mentioned the incident yet, but U.S. defectors have previously been used as propaganda tools. The debacle also occurred the same day a U.S. nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine arrived in South Korea, prompting North Korea to launch two ballistic missiles into the sea. The U.N. Command communicated with the North Koreans over a hotline shortly after King crossed the border.
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