American soldier Travis King on the news at the Seoul Railway Station. Photo / AP
American soldier Travis King on the news at the Seoul Railway Station. Photo / AP
The US has secured the release of a US soldier who sprinted across a heavily fortified border into North Korea more than two months ago, and he is on his way back to America, officials announced Wednesday. US ally Sweden and rival China helped with the transfer.
Left unanswered were questions of why Pyongyang—which has tense relations with Washington over the North’s nuclear program, support for Russia’s war in Ukraine and other issues—had agreed to turn him over and why the soldier had fled in the first place.
North Korea had abruptly announced that it would expel Private Travis King — though some had expected the North to drag out his detention in hopes of squeezing concessions from Washington at a time of high tensions between the two countries.
“US officials have secured the return of Private Travis King from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement. “We appreciate the dedication of the interagency team that has worked tirelessly out of concern for Private King’s wellbeing.”
Officials said they did not know exactly why North Korea decided to expel King, but suspected Pyongyang determined that as a low-ranking serviceman, he had no real value in terms of either leverage or information. One official, who was not authorised to comment and requested anonymity, said the North Koreans may have decided that King, 23, was more trouble to keep than to simply release him.
American soldier Travis King on the news at the Seoul Railway Station. Photo / AP
Swedish officials took King to the Chinese border, where he was met by the US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns, the Swedish ambassador to China, and at least one US Defense Department official. Biden administration officials insisted they provided no concessions to North Korea to secure the soldier’s release.
King was flown to a US military base in South Korea before being returned to the US.
His expulsion almost certainly does not end his troubles or ensure the sort of celebratory homecoming that has accompanied the releases of other detained Americans. He has been declared AWOL from the Army, which can mean punishment in military jail, forfeiture of pay or a dishonourable discharge.
In the near term, officials said that their focus would be on helping King reintegrate into US society, including helping him address mental and emotional concerns, according to a senior Biden administration official who briefed reporters on the transfer.
The soldier was in “good spirits and good health” upon his release, according to one senior administration official. He was to be taken to Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston in Texas, and was expected to arrive overnight, officials said.
King, who had served in South Korea, ran into North Korea while on a civilian tour of a border village on July 18, becoming the first American confirmed to be detained in the North in nearly five years.
At the time he crossed the border, King was supposed to be heading to Fort Bliss, Texas, following his release from prison in South Korea on an assault conviction.
After arriving at the Texas military installation, King is expected to undergo psychological assessments and debriefings. He will also get a chance to meet with family. King’s legal situation remains complicated because he willingly bolted into enemy hands, so legally he would be in military custody throughout the process.
On Wednesday, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency reported that authorities had finished their questioning of King. It said that he confessed to illegally entering the North because he harboured “ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination” within the US Army and was “disillusioned about the unequal US society”.
It had attributed similar comments to King before, and verifying their authenticity is impossible. Some previous foreign detainees have said after their releases that declarations of guilt while in North Korean custody were made under coercion.
The White House did not address the North Korean state media reports that King fled because of his dismay about racial discrimination and inequality in the military and US society. One senior administration official said that King was “very happy” to be on his way back to the United States.
In an interview last month with The Associated Press, King’s mother, Claudine Gates, said her son had reason to want to come home. She thanked the US government on Wednesday for securing her son’s release.
King was among about 28,000 US troops stationed in South Korea as a deterrence against potential aggression from North Korea. US officials had expressed concern about King’s wellbeing, citing the North’s harsh treatment of some American detainees in the past.
Both Koreas ban anyone from crossing their heavily fortified shared border without special permission. The Americans who crossed into North Korea in the past include soldiers, missionaries, human rights advocates or those simply curious about one of the world’s most cloistered societies.
While King was officially declared AWOL, the Army considered but did not declare him a deserter, which is a much more serious offence. In many cases, someone who is AWOL for more than a month can automatically be considered a deserter, which means they intend to leave permanently.
Punishment for going AWOL or desertion can vary, and it depends in part on whether the service member voluntarily returned or was apprehended. King’s turnover by the North Koreans makes that a more complicated determination.
North Korea’s decision to release King after 71 days appears relatively quick by the country’s standards, especially considering the tensions between Washington and Pyongyang over the North’s growing nuclear weapons and missile program and the United States’ expanding military exercises with South Korea. Some had speculated that North Korea might treat King as a propaganda asset or bargaining chip.
