A US soldier who served around two months in a South Korean jail on assault charges was believed to be in North Korean custody Wednesday after crossing the heavily fortified border without authorisation, officials said.
The soldier — identified by the US military as Travis King, a private second class who has been in the army since 2021 — crossed the border “willfully and without authorisation,” US Forces Korea spokesman Colonel Isaac Taylor said.
The United Nations Command said he had been on a Joint Security Area (JSA) orientation tour, adding he was believed to be in North Korean custody and that it was working with Pyongyang’s military to “resolve this incident”.
“King was released on July 10 after serving around two months in a South Korean prison for assault charges,” a Seoul official told AFP.
South Korean police told AFP that King had been investigated for assault in September 2022, but was not detained at the time.
CBS News, citing US officials, reported that the low-ranking soldier was being escorted home to the United States for disciplinary reasons, but managed to leave the airport and join the tour group.বিস্তারিত