North Korea detained a U.S. soldier who intentionally crossed the border from South Korea in an apparent effort to escape being sent home after being charged with assault, according to an American official.
The Army identified the soldier as Private Second Class Travis King, 23, a cavalry scout in the Army since January 2021 who had received a number of awards. But a U.S. official familiar with the case, who asked not to be identified, said there was more to the story.
King, who is from Wisconsin, had been released from South Korean detention where he had been held on charges of assaulting two Koreans and was facing formal separation from the military for a foreign conviction, the official said. He was escorted through security and customs at an airport and was then left alone for a flight to Fort Bliss, Texas, to receive the separation notice, according to the official.
