Private Second Class Travis King ran away into North Korea on the afternoon of Tuesday, July 18. King is a cavalry scout with the 1st Armored Division assigned to South Korea.
He was visiting the demilitarized zone between South and North Korea when he made his escape, laughing loudly as he ran across the border.
Why did he do it? The truth is now coming out…
What Happened?
On Tuesday, Private King was going to be sent back to the US for disciplining after reportedly getting into a bar fight in Seoul. His escape into North Korea appears to have been carefully planned.
When boarding his commercial flight back to the United States from Incheon, South Korea he told the airline staff he’d lost his passport and was escorted out to resolve the situation.
Instead, he traveled 34 miles to the border with North Korea and then physically ran into the demilitarized zone and crossed the border. Witnesses said he was laughing.
The US has had no contact with King since he ran away.
“King apparently had ‘served time in detention’ in the South and was heading back to the US when he decided to participate in a tour of the JSA.
Another individual on the tour says that King laughed as he crossed into the North.”https://t.co/oEWhB0XhtW
— Paul Brian (@paulrbrian) July 18, 2023
Why Did King Do It?
The US has an official travel warning advising Americans not to travel to North Korea for any reason. King was one of 28,500 members of the US military stationed in South Korea and had a history of disciplinary issues.
This included swearing and kicking police cars, beating a Korean man in a Seoul bar, and being held in a military jail for several months in Seoul, before being sent back to Fort Bliss to face punishment.
This definitely looks like a planned move by King. He would have had to book the tour that took him near the DMZ at least three days ahead of time and be registered with the UN, which runs that area.
Defection of Pvt. Travis King to North Korea reminded of scant history of Black people there, but in 1969 Eldridge Cleaver repped the Black Panthers in Pyongyang at the International Conference of Journalists of the Whole World in the Fight Against U.S. Imperialist Aggression. pic.twitter.com/biS3JWbxA7
— Kevin B. Blackistone (@ProfBlackistone) July 19, 2023
The Bottom Line
King appears to have wanted to get away from his troubles in the military and intentionally decided to defect to North Korea.
Look for videos from this 23-year-old supporting the North Korean regime any day now…
This article appeared in FreshOffThePress and has been published here with permission.
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