A US soldier, who crossed the inter-Korean border into North Korea and believed to be in Pyongyang’s custody, had been sentenced to a fine for kicking and damaging a police patrol car in Seoul in February this year, legal sources said on Wednesday.
Late Tuesday, the UN Command and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the active American service member had willfully crossed the inter-Korean border into North Korea without authorisation during a tour to the Joint Security Area and is believed to be in North Korea’s custody, reports Yonhap News Agency.
“We are very early in this event, and so there’s a lot that we are still trying to learn but what we do know is that one of our service members who was on a tour willfully and without authorisation crossed the military demarcation line,” Austin told a press briefing in Washington.
“We believe that he is in DPRK custody, and so we are closely monitoring and investigating the situation and working to notify the soldier’s next of kin and engaging to address this incident,” he added, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The Pentagon later identified the defector as Pvt. 2nd Class Travis King in his 20s, and American media organisations reported that he was in the process of being sent back to the US for disciplinary action in connection with assault charges he faced in South Korea.
Legal sources in Seoul said on Wednesday that King, 23, was fined 5 million won ($3,943) on February 8 by a court in the city on charges including inflicting damage on public property.
He was suspected of repeatedly kicking a back door of a police patrol vehicle in Seoul’s Mapo district on October 8, 2022 and inflicting damage that required repairs worth 584,000 won.
He was apprehended by police at the scene, but did not cooperate with police officers demanding his personal information and kicked the door of the police car shouting foul language against Koreans and the Korean Army, according to police investigations.
He also faced suspicions of punching the face of a Korean national at a night club in western Seoul on September 25, 2022, but was not indicted for the incident as the victim said he did not want a punishment for the soldier.
In a briefing on Tuesday, US State Department Press Secretary Matthew Miller said tha the Department of Defense has also reached out to North Korea regarding the incident.
“The State Department has not reached out to the North Koreans or other governments. It is our understanding that the Pentagon has reached out to their counterparts in the DPRK,” Miller said.
“I will just say that, as always, the safety and security of any American overseas remains the top priority for the US,” he added.
Miller reiterated that the service member “willfully, on his own volition” crossed the inter-Korean border when asked if he was trying to defect to North Korea, adding “the matter remains under investigation”.
Also on Tuesday, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre later said President Joe Biden has been briefed on the incident.
“I can tell you for sure that… clearly the President has been briefed. Obviously, this is the type of incident that he would be briefed on,” she told a press briefing, adding, “certainly this is something that the President is watching very closely and will be kept updated”.
Jean-Pierre said it was still too early to determine the exact motive of the service member.
“We will resolve this incident, resolve this matter to get to the bottom of exactly what happened. There is an investigation that’s currently occurring. There has been outreach from the Department of Defense, as I mentioned, to their counterparts over at the Korean People’s Army.
“Resolving this is basically getting to the bottom of exactly what happened, and that is important for us to know. I just don’t have more to share,” she added.
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