Chaos as U.S. Soldier Travis King Bolted Into North Korea -Witness

SEOUL (Reuters) – American and South Korean guards shouted “get him” as they scrambled unsuccessfully to cease U.S. Military soldier Travis King from sprinting into North Korea, a New Zealand girl who was on the identical tour to the border space stated on Wednesday.

“All of it occurred fairly shortly,” stated Sarah Leslie, who was within the Joint Safety Space (JSA) of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) with some 40 different vacationers who had been strolling round and taking photographs within the moments earlier than King made a mad sprint to nuclear-armed and reclusive North Korea.

The group had simply left one of many iconic blue buildings that straddles the border between the 2 Koreas and is used for negotiations, when King all of the sudden ran between the constructions towards the North, she stated.

“Somebody ran near me very quick and I assumed, ‘What’s going on?’,” Leslie informed Reuters. “I do not suppose anybody who was sane would wish to go to North Korea, so I assumed it was some form of stunt.”

The U.S. navy was scrambling on Wednesday to find out King’s destiny after what officers stated was a wilful, unauthorised crossing of the border into North Korea, throwing Washington into a brand new disaster in its dealings with the state.

King was carrying denims, a black shirt and a black hat with the letters “DMZ” printed on it, Leslie stated.

“I most likely solely noticed him working for like just a few seconds and that is all it will have taken to get throughout the border,” she stated.

One American soldier shouted “get him,” and different American and South Korean guards ran after King, however he was already on the north aspect of the border, Leslie stated.

“It was too late,” she stated, including that he disappeared from sight and she or he did not see him enter any buildings or be detained by North Korean guards.

The guards then shortly herded the remainder of the group right into a constructing and onto a bus to depart the realm, she stated.

“I can not suppose why anybody would wish to do this. You would get shot crossing the road… It was fairly frantic.”

(Reportng by Ju-min Park; Writing by Hyunsu Yim; Enhancing by Josh Smith and Bernadette Baum)

Copyright 2023 Thomson Reuters.