On Wednesday night, September 27th, Travis King, the American soldier who went AWOL from his post and ran into North Korea’s hands back in July was transferred to U.S custody. After being exiled to China by North Korea, he was secured by the U.S. Military and is now heading for Texas.

Earlier on Wednesday, news officials said that the reason the country was going to expel King was because he gave a confession that he crossed borders illegally. After his arrest in South Korea for assaulting a police officer, he was set to face disciplinary action at a military base in Fort Bliss, Texas. However, at the airport, instead of boarding his U.S. flight, King joined a JSA tour in a demilitarized zone between the two Koreas. There, he then ran across the border.

In 2021, King joined the Army and was stationed in South Korea. King’s family revealed to the news that King faced discrimination while serving in the U.S. military.

Before his disappearance, King damaged a South Korean police vehicle and faced two assault allegations. One, last year where he attacked an unidentified man at a club on September 25, and another two weeks later where he was involved in a dust-up on October 8th. He had also been fined approximately 3950$ for the damages to the patrol car.

His uncle, Carl Gates says he had been acting reckless and crazy over the time of his death. As he states: “Six-year-old King Nazir Gates, Who had a rare and untreatable genetic disorder, died in February.”

In an interview, King’s mother, Claudine Gates, says he had “so many reasons to come home”.

“I just can’t see him ever wanting to just stay in Korea when he has family in America.”

King’s family has mentioned that the discrimination he faced in the military was a possible reason for his poor mental health. As a result, a Senior Administration official said that their main focus is to get King medically evaluated before any disciplinary action takes place.

“We are going to guide him through a re-integration process that will address any medical and emotional concerns and ensure we get him in a good place to reunite with his family.”
This process is really crucial after being in a different country for a long period of time

Days after King’s return to the U.S., it is still unclear if King will face disciplinary actions for fleeing into North Korea.

“They can go all the way from sending him to a court-martial with a very significant charge — a desertion charge — down to taking no action,” said Florida International University College of Law law professor and former Army judge advocate Eric Carpenter.

“We will get to the point where the chain of command will decide what consequences he’ll be facing, but we’re not at that point right now,” said Army Secretary Christine Wormuth in a press conference held on Tuesday, October 3.

As of right now, we do not know the choices the army will make with the deserter. He could be facing a ton of charges that involve desertion. He could be court martialed and dishonorably discharged or they could take no punishment at all and focus solely on improving his mental health. At this point, until we gather new information all we can do is wonder about the motives.