Concerns for American Soldier Detained in North Korea: Fate and Treatment

2023-07-20 18:07:05

A senior US military official said on Thursday she was “very concerned” regarding the fate and “how it might be treated” of the American soldier detained in North Korea following crossing the border with South Korea.

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“I’m very, very concerned that Private (Travis) King is in the hands of North Korean authorities…I’m concerned regarding how he might be treated,” Secretary of the Armed Forces Christine Wormuth said at the security forum in Aspen, Colorado (west).

She cited the case of Otto Warmbier, an American detained in North Korea for a year and a half before being released in 2017 in a coma and who had died six days following returning to the United States.

Travis King, a second-class soldier enlisted since 2021, was due to return to the United States to face disciplinary proceedings when he left the airport, joined a group visiting the demilitarized zone between South Korea and North Korea, then crossed the border, she said.

Christine Wormuth clarified that the United States was still without news on Thursday of their soldier, despite multiple attempts to contact, in particular via the United Nations in an attempt to “bring him back” to the United States.

“At this point, not much is known and I don’t think we were able to successfully contact the North Korean authorities,” she admitted.

He “had assaulted a person in South Korea, had been detained by the South Korean government and was going to return to the United States to face the consequences in the military. I’m sure he was faced with that,” she said.

“He may not have had his mind straight, frankly, but we don’t know,” she said.

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