Travis King, a 23-year-old private in the U.S. Army in Korea, was deported last month after staying in North Korea for 71 days after crossing the military demarcation line without permission while touring the Joint Security Area (JSA). He was arrested by the U.S. military on charges of desertion and possession of child sexual exploitation material . was indicted According to major foreign media outlets, including the Associated Press and Reuters, on the 20th (local time), the U.S. military charged Private King with eight charges, including desertion and assaulting fellow soldiers, under the U.S. Military Trial Act
. Media reported that among the charges was possession of child pornography. Private King crossed the Military Demarcation Line ( MDL ) into North Korea without permission during a field trip to the Joint Security Area ( JSA ) on July 18. At the time, he was scheduled to be repatriated to the United States to receive further disciplinary action from the military, but it was confirmed that he had defected to North Korea during a JSA field trip the day after he disappeared without boarding a plane at Incheon Airport. Afterwards, the Swedish authorities, as a country representing the interests of the United States, mediated the process of Private King’s deportation, and North Korea announced on the 27th of last month, 71 days after defecting to North Korea, that it had “decided to deport US soldier Travis King in accordance with the laws of the Republic.”
“There were no conditions”… Background to North Korea’s return of ‘Private King’ to the United States
North Korea did not place any conditions when expelling Private먹튀검증 King from North Korea.
The U.S. side also said, “We gave them (North Korea) nothing. “There were no concessions made regarding the safe return of Private King,” he said, emphasizing that there was no ‘hostage diplomacy’ that had been feared.
In relation to this, Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies, told CBS News in the U.S. that “North Korea may have judged Private King to be unsuitable for propaganda purposes.”
He appears to have judged that he could not play a positive role in propagating the regime, as he was already a criminal facing a military trial when he defected to North Korea, and later went to North Korea as a fugitive.
Previously, experts had speculated that North Korea could use Private King’s defection to North Korea not only as a diplomatic tool, but also for internal solidarity or regime propaganda if necessary.
However, the relevant agencies explained that despite attempts by the U.S. Department of Defense and others to contact the United Nations Command, no meaningful communication took place.
Private King was deported to China on the day of the announcement and transported to the United States via Osan Base in Korea.
Meanwhile, at the time of his defection to North Korea, Private King was scheduled to be summoned to the United States to receive disciplinary action from the U.S. military.
He was sentenced to a fine of 5 million won in February of this year for kicking and damaging the door of a police patrol car in Mapo-gu, Seoul in October last year, but did not pay the fine and was released in July after serving 48 days of domestic labor starting last May. Afterwards, he was summoned to the U.S. state of Texas and had to undergo additional disciplinary action, but it was confirmed that he disappeared without boarding the plane at Incheon Airport and defected to North Korea after applying for a JSA
field trip the next day . Private King reportedly arrived in the United States last month and was taken to a local military medical center where he underwent a series of tests to check his physical and mental health.