North Korea: Fears mount over US soldier's condition

Officials from the United States Army and the White House have expressed their deep concern regarding the well-being of the US soldier who fled to North Korea earlier this week. The totalitarian state has yet to respond to US queries about the AWOL soldier.

US Private Travis King had completed his deployment in South Korea as well as a prison sentence in South Korea for assault and should have returned to the United States, but escaped from the airport to join a private tour of the border, where he broke away from the group and crossed the demilitarized zone into North Korea, according to Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh.

King has been declared "Absent Without Leave" or AWOL, which is punishable by confinement in the brig, forfeiture of pay or dishonorable discharge — all largely based on how long a soldier is away and the nature of their return. This is a considerably less serious charge than being declared a deserter.

The incident comes amid tense diplomatic relations between North Korea and the United States. North Korea's defense minister suggested Thursday that the docking of a nuclear-armed US submarine in South Korea could be grounds for a nuclear attack by the North. 

North Korea not 'known for humane treatment of Americans'

"This is not a country that is known for humane treatment of Americans or actually anybody else for that matter," White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

"We don't know where he is. We don't know the conditions in which he's living right now," Kirby said. "And it's the not knowing that is deeply concerning to us and we're trying as best we can to get as much information as we can about him."

US Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said Washington was fully mobilized in trying to contact Pyongyang, including through United Nations communications channels.

"I worry about how they may treat him. So, [we] want to get him back," she said, citing the case of Otto Warmbier, a US college student who was imprisoned in North Korea for 17 months before he was returned to the United States in a vegetative state in 2017. Warmbier died shortly after his return.

When asked if King was still alive, Singh said the US did not have information on his health condition. Speaking about the liability of having a US soldier captured by North Korea, she said it is "not our assessment" that King represents a security threat or liability. Singh added that the department has no indication that King's decision to run into North Korea was pre-planned or organized with Pyongyang.

The US has contacted officials in South Korea and Sweden for help reaching out to North Korea regarding King. 

Troubled private

South Korean news agency Yonhap reported, citing judicial authorities, that King had refused to pay $4,000 (€ 3,592) in fines for kicking and damaging a police car in Seoul.

While he was not in custody on the way to the airport, he had been escorted to the passport control area where he feigned losing his passport and made his escape. "I don't think anyone anticipated that he was going to leave the airport," Singh said.

King's family members said the soldier may have felt overwhelmed by the legal trouble in South Korea, which could lead to a discharge from the military.

"He had assaulted an individual in South Korea and had been in custody of the South Korean government and was going to come back to the United States and face the consequences in the Army," Wormuth said. "I'm sure that he was grappling with that."

mk/sms (AP, Reuters, DPA)