The US Army is investigating whether North Korean authorities had prior knowledge of Private Travis King’s intention to cross the border from South Korea this week, according to a report.
Documents seen by The Messenger provide the most detailed account so far of the events leading up to the moment Mr King ran across the Demilitarized Zone and into the territory of one of the US’s greatest enemies.
A US military official familiar with the investigation, speaking on condition of anonymity due to a lack of authorisation, told The Messenger that the possibility that the North Koreans had prior knowledge of Mr King’s intention to cross the border is being considered.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin referred to Mr King’s crossing as “willfully and without authorisation” and the official Department of Defense report — known as a “serious incident report” — explains how the cavalry scout came to flee from South Korea.
Having joined the US Army in January 2021, Mr King was assigned to the 6th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment and administratively attached to the 1st Batallion, 12th Infantry Regiment when he was posted to South Korea.
Following three disciplinary incidents between September and October 2022 in which he was accused of assault, Mr King was placed on an international hold.
“[King] was placed in pretrial confinement and then a Korean [Status of Forces Agreement] confinement facility. King served 50 days of hard labor at a Korean facility before his release on 10 JUL 2023,” The Messenger cites the report as saying.
Before his detention, Mr King booked two different tours of the DMZ but missed the first date. He was able to confirm the second date with Hanna Tours ITC, a private company, after his release.
Upon his release from detention on 10 July back to the US Army, he was booked a one-way ticket back to the US on 17 July from Seoul’s Incheon International Airport to Dallas Fort Worth on American Airlines. His final destination was Fort Bliss, Texas.
US and Korean military escorts accompanied him to the airport and watched him go through customs at 4.30pm local time. The report says he texted them to say he was at his departure gate shortly after, ahead of the scheduled departure time of 5.40pm.
At noon on 18 July, his chain of command was notified that he had not arrived at Fort Bliss. The US Army confirmed through South Korean customs officials that he had not boarded the flight.
The following day he arrived for the previously booked tour of the DMZ and checked in using his US government ID card.
The tour company submitted the list of participants in the tour to the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission, which supervises the armistice between the two Koreas.
Despite Mr King being placed on an international hold by US and South Korean authorities he was not flagged prior to taking the tour. It is not known why this did not happen.
The tour began as scheduled at 2.30pm at UN Command’s Camp Boniface, just south of the DMZ. Approximately an hour later Mr King walked away from the group and sprinted through a space between US and South Korean troops.
Security officers gave chase as Mr King ran to the far end of “conference row”, a series of bright blue buildings in the DMZ, and then ran north to Panmungak.
The report says Mr King ran to the back of a Korean People’s Army building where he entered a van and was driven out of the area by North Korean troops.
Both the US Army’s 2nd Infantry Division and the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission have launched investigations.
North Korea has so far ignored the US’s efforts to “reach out” to the Korean People’s Army to determine the fate of a soldier who fled to the secretive country.
All tours of the DMZ have been cancelled indefinitely.
