More On Korea Escape

Here is an update on the soldier that crossed the Korean DMZ. We thought he must be an on duty American soldier but the story turns out to be much different. He, as Jim Geraghty said, is not a genius but he does seem to have some skills at avoiding capture.

US soldier facing disciplinary action fled across the inter-Korean border into North Korea on Tuesday, where he is being held in custody, US officials said. Private 2nd Class Travis King had just been released from a South Korean prison where he had been held on assault charges and was facing additional military disciplinary actions in the US. Pte King, who is in his early 20s, was escorted to the airport to be returned to Fort Bliss, Texas, but instead of getting on the aircraft he left and joined a tour of the Korean border village of Panmunjom, where he ran across the border. [Emphasis added and paragraphs deleted]

Travis was being escorted, we would think by the Military Police, to an airport and he left? And then he joined a tour group going to the DMZ? How? And when the tour got to the DMZ he crossed it into North Korea. Lots of people are going to need to do lots of explaining as how Travis ended up in the DMZ and then crossed it. Travis may not be a genius but he made many people look stupid. We wish him all the worst for his stay in North Korea.

“Escaping” South Korea

Jim Geraghty’s Morning Jolt reports on a tour of the Korean DMZ:

A U.S. National on a JSA orientation tour crossed, without authorization, the Military Demarcation Line into the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) [North Korea]. We believe he is currently in DPRK custody and are working with our KPA counterparts to resolve this incident.”

We’ve been on the DMZ tour. You can cross the Military Demarcation Line but only when you are in the hut where the cease-fire (we think that is the correct term) was signed. A South Korean (Republic of Korea or ROK) soldier stands ROK ready (and he is clearly ready for action) to make sure nobody exits the north side of the hut. Jim asks one question:

What kind of genius chooses to go wandering off from the tour group when visiting the North Korean border?

Well said Jim. Folks on the tour get a briefing and are watched carefully. No Koreans are allowed on the tour. We can’t remember if other countries are excluded.

This report says it is a US soldier. If true that would negate our question: How did he do it? The soldiers watch you very carefully. There is the ROK ready guy in the hut. Another example was we were taking pictures with our baseball hat on backwards to help with the light. It was long enough ago that we had an actual camera. The guard told us very clearly not to do it because the hat position would be an insult to the North Koreans.

If he was a US soldier it amplifies Jim’s question. He sees both Koreas everyday including the Potemkin village with the huge North Korean flag just across the DMZ. What kind of genius indeed.