North Korea finally breaks silence on US soldier 6 days after he crossed border
Secretive totalitarian state North Korea has finally broken its silence over missing US soldier Travis King, who fled across the border from South Korea almost a week ago.
Nothing has been seen nor heard from Private King since he ran "laughing" across the demilitarised zone between South and North Korea, and his family fear for his safety after the baffling and dangerous move.
The deputy commander of the US-led multinational United Nations Command that oversees the Korean War truce said discussions with North Korea's military were finally underway today, after days of silence.
UN Command deputy commander, Lieutenant General Andrew Harrison, said: “The primary concern for us is private King’s welfare.”
Private 2nd Class Travis King, 23, had been imprisoned for assault in Seoul, South Korea's capital, and was set to be flown back to the US for disciplinary reasons when he made his escape across the border into the north. He had already passed through airport security before he fled.
Teachers, civil servants and train drivers walk out in biggest strike in decade
Mr King was escorted to the airport to be returned to Fort Bliss, Texas, but instead left and joined a tour of the Korean border village of Panmunjom, where he ran across the border.
UN Command deputy commander Lieutenant General Andrew Harrison has said dialogue is open (AFP via Getty Images)US authorities have said he crossed over "wilfully, of his own volition."
He laughed as he crossed the border, witnesses said. Court documents show he had damaged a police car and had been locked up at a detention facility in Seoul.
Officials from both sides of the border were talking via a mechanism established under the Korean War armistice.
Mr King was reportedly investigated for assault in September 2022 where he was suspected of punching a Korean national in a nightclub in Seoul.
He was also fined 5m won ($3,950) for "repeatedly kicking" the back door of a police car and screamed "foul language" at the officers trying to arrest him.
A TV screen shows a file image of American soldier Travis King during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea (AP)
Picture of Travis King from the 2019 Washington Park High School yearbook handout (Washington Park High School/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock)Officials said he was released on July 10 after serving two months in jail on assault charges, but did not elaborate.
Swedish tourist Mikaela Johansson, said on a Facebook post she was on the tour at the time as the solider.
“To our right, we hear a loud HA-HA-HA and one guy from OUR GROUP that has been with us all day- runs in between two of the buildings and over to the other side!!” she wrote.
"It took everybody a second to react and grasp what had actually happened, then we were ordered into and through Freedom House and running back to our military bus."
Tiger attacks two people in five days as soldiers called in to hunt down big cat
According to US officials, he had just been released from prison where he had been held on assault charges and was facing military disciplinary actions in the US.
The story has got extensive news coverage in South Korea and abroad (AP)"A US National on a JSA orientation tour crossed, without authorisation, the Military Demarcation Line into the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," the United Nations Command said on Twitter. "We believe he is currently in DPRK custody and are working with our KPA counterparts to resolve this incident."
Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said he believes the US soldier is in custody in North Korea.
"We're very early in this event and so there's a lot that we're still trying to learn," he said. "What we do know is that one of our service members who was on a tour wilfully and without authorisation crossed the military demarcation line. We believe that he is in DPRK custody.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
