What happened to the soldier that tried to defect to North Korea?

In September 2023, the world watched as a weird crisis unfolded that saw a soldier from the United States cross from South Korea into North Korea in what looked as if it was an attempt to defect to the hermit kingdom.

News about the crisis was initially conflicting but soon details revealed a troubled young and troubled man named Travis King was at the center of the controversy. But whatever happened to King? This is his story up to now.

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On September 27th, news outlets across the world began reporting that U.S. Army Private Travis King was released into American custody in China before being put on a plane and flown to a military facility in the United States.

"We can confirm Pvt King is very happy to be on his way home, and he is very much looking forward to reuniting with his family," a senior American official said according to BBC News.

Photo credit: Facebook

"We are going to guide him through a re-integration process that will address any medical and emotional concerns and ensure we get him in a good place to reunite with his family." the official added.

The 23-year-old reconnaissance specialist arrived at a military hospital in Texas on September 28th where Reuters reported he would undergo an examination of his physical and mental health following his time in North Korean captivity.

King was the first American soldier detained by North Korean authorities in decades, and details regarding his identity as well as the reason why he was taken into custody slowly began to emerge after news broke of his unsanctioned crossing into North Korea while on a civilian tour of the Joint Security Area. 

Why King crossed the border has been a mystery since the incident. However, it was believed the young man's choice had something to do with the two months he spent locked away in a South Korean jail for assault and the impending disciplinary actions he faced when he returned home, though that is just speculation. 

The Associated Press reported King was released from South Korean custody on July 10th after serving his time but was set to return to the United States to face “additional military disciplinary actions and discharge from the service.”

King had been escorted to an airport outside Seoul and was taken to customs but he never made it onto the plane. King later left the airport and joined a tour of the border that went to the village of Panmunjom. It was there the soldier crossed into North Korea on June 10th, 2023. 

“Everybody was stunned and shocked,” said Sarah Leslie, a tourist from New Zealand who was in the group King joined and saw the soldier cross the border near the end of the tour. “There were some people who hadn’t even realized what was going on.”  

Leslie spoke with the Associated Press in a separate report on the incident and relayed what she saw. King had been quiet on the tour and hadn’t talked to the others according to Leslie’s account, though she noted he bought a hat from a gift shop before his stunt. 

As the tour ended the group was taking photos and waiting around and that’s when she saw King running fast to cross the border. “I assumed initially he had a mate filming him in some kind of really stupid prank… then I heard one of the soldiers shout, ‘Get that guy.’”

After running for 30 feet, King made his way across and then disappeared from sight, beginning what was sure to become a major international incident between the United States and North Korea—a point top American officials expressed in the hours after. 

“We’re closely monitoring and investigating the situation,” U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on the day the incident occurred. “This will develop in the next several days and hours, and we’ll keep you posted,” Austin continued. 

Army spokesperson Bryce Dubee noted King was attached to the 1st Armored Division out of Fort Bliss while on rotation in Korea according to reporting from CNN, which added that King had no prior deployments on record and he had the routine decorations of his rank. 

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in the wake of the news of King’s actions that the Biden administration was “engaging” with North Korean officials, though NBC News the United States doesn’t have any official relations with Pyongyang. 

“Our primary concern at this time is ascertaining his well-being and getting to the bottom of exactly what happened,” Jean-Pierre said.

King’s mother spoke with ABC News and explained she didn’t understand why her son would have crossed the border into North Korea. "I can't see Travis doing anything like that," Claudine Gates said, adding that she just wanted “him to come home."

The Washington Post noted King was the first American to be detained by North Korea in nearly five years and that could mean he’d be there for a while if his intention wasn’t to defect. Most releases of American prisoners in the country result from high-level talks. 

The State Department has imposed an official travel ban to North Korea since the death of Otto Warmbier, a U.S. student who was charged with trying to steal a state propaganda poster and died shortly after he was released to American authorities while in a coma.

Following King's release and detention in Texas, King was charged with a variety of charges that included desertion for his sprint across the border to North Korea and assault for an incident that occurred with another soldier according to Reuters.

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Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Travis Wise, CC BY 2.0

King was also charged with soliciting images of an individual under the age of eighteen. King's family has hired a legal team that includes Franklin Rosenblatt, the lead counsel who defended Bowe Bergdahl during his court martial in 2017.