Holy smokes. We had a feeling there was going to be some backstory to this when it happened. No one in their right mind – even if they’re described as a little slow – hot foots it over the border to North Korea unless there are desperate reasons why. It’s been decades since someone even tried.

North Korea found Pvt. Travis King’s arrival on their doorstep useful for a few weeks and I’ll bet he ladled out all sorts of sob stories about racism and oppression. Seemed to work out fine for both parties.

North Korea says that a U.S. soldier who entered the country from South Korea was fleeing abuse and racism in the U.S. military. It marks the North’s first public confirmation of the incident since 23-year-old Travis King crossed the border last month.

The official Korean Central News Agency said that initial findings of an official investigation showed that King admitted to entering the North illegally, and that he was motivated by “ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army.”

Travis King isn’t the 1st U.S. soldier to enter North Korea. Here’s a history

It added that he was willing to seek refuge in North Korea or a third country because he was “disillusioned” about inequality in American society.

As more information on his background came out, it was kind of obvious the young man was a far from a stellar performer in any event, who’d only been in the Army since 2021. Starting off with a bang.

…King was arrested last October and convicted of assaulting a South Korean citizen, damaging police vehicles and verbally abusing police officers while intoxicated. He refused to pay a fine and was detained by South Korean authorities this spring.

At the end of September, a sort of diplomatic marvel happened, with the announcement that King had been returned to US custody and was on his way back to the States.

Sweden acted as the intermediary when it turned out that the North Koreans weren’t all that keen on keeping King. They were looking for a way to give him back, and save diplomatic face at the same time.

…”We can confirm that U.S. officials have secured the return of Private King and departed PRC airspace en route to a U.S. military base,” a senior Biden administration official said.

Later Wednesday, Army spokesman Bryce Dubee said in a statement that King could face future action from the Army but for now the focus is on his “well-being and privacy.”

King will be flown to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, where he will go through the military’s reintegration process used to re-acclimate Americans who have been detained overseas, two U.S. officials confirmed to ABC News. Typically that process takes place at Brooke Army Medical Center, which is located at Fort Sam Houston.

During his Wednesday afternoon press briefing, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller confirmed that King was in the air en route to the United States.

“The United States has secured the return of Private Travis King from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Earlier today, he was transported to the border between North Korea and China, where he was met by our ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, Nicholas Burns. He then boarded a State Department OpMed plane and flew from Dandong, China to Shenyang, China, and then on from Shenyang to Osan Air Force Base in South Korea, where he was transferred to the Department of Defense,” Miller said.

…Sweden informed the U.S. that North Korea wanted to release King earlier this month, which led to the intense behind-the-scenes efforts to secure his transfer, senior administration officials said.

North Korea announced earlier Wednesday that it would expel King, who ran across the border from South Korea during a tour in July.

“The relevant organ of the DPRK decided to expel Travis King, a soldier of the U.S. Army who illegally intruded into the territory of the DPRK, under the law of the Republic,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said.

All’s well that ends well, right?

Eh…no.

I’m sure King wishes he could have kept on running.

The U.S. Army has charged Private Travis King with crimes ranging from desertion for running into North Korea in July to assault against fellow soldiers and solicitation of child pornography, according to documents obtained by Reuters.

The Army’s case against King, which has not been previously reported, includes eight distinct charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, setting up a substantial legal battle for the 23-year-old soldier after his release from North Korean custody in September.

AY DIOS MIO

Of course his poor mother is flabbergasted, insisting her son never even drank before he enlisted, so the Army had to have done this to him.

But, apparently, these charges had been on the burner for quite a while and King must have known about them – known something was coming, and then lit out in a panic.

It seems the dude has plenty of priors, including asking a minor on Snapchat to expose herself for cash just this past July.

…But the Army’s charge sheet accuses him of broad misconduct before that incident, including an attempted escape from U.S. military custody on October 2022.

…King was accused of soliciting a Snapchat user in July 2023 to “knowingly and willingly produce child pornography.” He was also accused of possession of child pornography.

He was also charged with insubordination for leaving his base after curfew and drinking alcohol in violation of Army regulations.

…King, who joined the Army in January 2021, had faced two allegations of assault in South Korea. He pleaded guilty to assault and destroying public property for damaging a police car during a profanity-laced tirade against Koreans, according to court documents.

Instead of paying a fine, King opted for more than a month in South Korean detention.

King had already been due to face disciplinary action in the United States after his release from South Korean detention. He was on his way home when he slipped away from Seoul’s international airport and made his way to a civilian tour of the border area between North and South Korea.

Then King sprinted across the border into North Korea. He was immediately taken into North Korean custody.

Yeah. This was a head-for-the-hills scenario and it doesn’t surprise me the Norks booted him.

It will be worth watching to see how well documented the Army case is and how quickly it devolves into racism accusations if it is a solid case. The family’s lawyer is already spinning like mad.

WHY ARE THEY PICKING ON TRAVIS?

…Franklin Rosenblatt, one of King’s attorneys, told Task & Purpose on Friday that the case against King represents a shift in U.S. policy regarding American citizens who have been captured by enemy forces, Franklin said on Friday.

“For the last 75 years, we have always done all we can to try to show solidarity with those who are captured and try to bring them home,” Franklin said. “The only criminal investigations that are conducted are of the captors to try to get our people back. What we saw here is that when Pvt. King was over [in North Korea], we went into overdrive to investigate every aspect and tended to leave no stone unturned to see what it was that he did wrong.”

Yeah. Okay.

I can see where we’re going with this. It’s the Ben Crump defense strategy.

Let’s see if the Army has a solid case, and can fight both the woke DoD and this defense team at the same time without crumbling.