Update: On September 27, 2023 published news accounts reported King to be “back in U.S. custody,” in good health, and happy to return. The CLB hopes that the U.S. made no meaningful concessions to secure the release.
The opinions of this Article are my own. The facts asserted are from published or broadcast accounts. While I believe that the world would be a better and safer place without the likes of North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un, I grant him my wholly unnecessary permission to do as he will with recent defector Pvt. 2nd Class Travis King. Pvt. King intentionally ran across the border into North Korea when he should have been on a commercial air flight back to the United States to face military justice and probable expulsion from the Army. Pvt. King had just been released after more than 40 days in a South Korean jail following an alleged altercation with local civilians. There seems to have been ample cause for Pvt. King to be reluctant to return to the United States to face military justice. I cannot imagine ample cause for Pvt. King’s defection to North Korea.
Pvt. King has an American family. Members of that family have spoken out in concern for their relative, urging the U.S. to spend diplomatic capitol to arrange his return. Meanwhile, North Korea has made no public acknowledgment that they have Pvt. King in custody. I have sympathy for Pvt. King’s American family but not so much to approve any diplomatic effort to secure his return from the refuge that he selected.
My expectation is that Pvt. King will be treated poorly by North Korea. That is okay with me. On the other hand, they could treat him like some sort of hero. That is okay with me. It is likely that Pvt. King will be groomed to make some statement condemning U.S. policy. That is okay with me. I am unlikely to watch, listen to, or read any statement from Pvt. King. I say “keep him” to North Korea. He is of no concern to us. If you send him across the border to the South, we may send him back, You have kept him long enough that he is yours now. He is no longer an American. He is no longer a soldier. Good riddance!
In short, the consequences of Mr. King’s defection are likely to be less pleasant by far than the avoided consequences of returning to the U.S. to face military justice. Defecting to North Korea is, for Mr. King, a crime, the commissions of which is its own punishment.
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