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Mom of US soldier Travis King who defected to North Korea can’t imagine son ‘doing anything like that’
The New York Post ^ | 07/19/2023 | Allie Griffin

Posted on 07/18/2023 10:19:36 PM PDT by thegagline

The mother of the US soldier who has been detained in North Korea after crossing into the country without authorization said the risky behavior was unlike her son.

The 23-year-old Army private, Travis King, was stationed in South Korea and was on a tour of the demilitarized zone between the two countries Tuesday when he strayed from the group and ran across the border.

“I can’t see Travis doing anything like that,” Claudine Gates, of Racine, Wisconsin, told ABC News.

She said she last spoke to her son a few days ago and just wanted him to come home.

King was facing military disciplinary charges while stationed in South Korea after having served time at a prison in the country over assault charges. He was supposed to fly back to the US and was escorted by military personnel to the airport but he left past the security checkpoint and skipped his flight.

Instead, he joined the tour of the Joint Security Area in the demilitarized zone.

Another tourist on the tour, Mikaela Johansson of Sweden, claimed King loudly laughed as he ran between two buildings into the Hermit Kingdom.

US officials said King, a private second class who has served in the Army for approximately two years, “deliberately” crossed the border into the closed-off and secretive country.

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: assault; awol; defection; defector; desertion; korea; military; travisking
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To: Joe 6-pack

Thanks, understand. I know the SOFAs have been changed over the years. I’m “ancient vintage,” having grown up an Army brat and then 24 years in the Navy many moons ago. There was a time when U.S. servicemen were handed over to U.S. authorities, regardless of the circumstances. When my father was a military attaché in a certain European country, he dealt with the case of a soldier who had killed a local. A significant incident to be sure, but it was handled discreetly between the two countries. The soldier was released to U.S. custody, taken out of the host country, and punished severely in the U.S. As legal officer in my first fleet squadron (a collateral duty), I frequently had to deal with situations of sailors getting into trouble ashore during port visits. If we had a SOFA with the country we were visiting, most often the sailor or Marine was turned over to the ship. Admittedly, if we didn’t have a SOFA, it became difficult to retrieve the individual(s). A different time when the United States was more respected and even feared; foreign governments did not mess with the U.S. government or its citizens, law abiding or law breaking.


41 posted on 07/19/2023 5:26:53 AM PDT by twister881
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To: thegagline

I heard the recruiters are have a hard time trying to find people to serve in Bidenskyyyy’s Funny Army. They’ve even working on allowing them to smoke their marijuana and they still won’t join.


42 posted on 07/19/2023 5:42:15 AM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (No more new laws until we start enforcing the crap we already have!)
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To: FlingWingFlyer

Have=having
They’ve=they’re

I guess I need a cup of coffee.


43 posted on 07/19/2023 5:44:29 AM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (No more new laws until we start enforcing the crap we already have!)
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To: jerod
He likely defected for the chicks...

The NORKS don't allow none Koreans to become intimate with Korean women. If he proves to be very useful to the regime, they will kidnap a foreign woman to be his wife.


44 posted on 07/19/2023 5:47:07 AM PDT by Pilsner
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To: montanajoe
King was facing military disciplinary charges while stationed in South Korea after having served time at a prison in the country over assault charges. He was supposed to fly back to the US and was escorted by military personnel to the airport but he left past the security checkpoint and skipped his flight.

From the article:

King was facing military disciplinary charges while stationed in South Korea after having served time at a prison in the country over assault charges. He was supposed to fly back to the US and was escorted by military personnel to the airport but he left past the security checkpoint and skipped his flight.

Disciplinary problems and no ability to think about the consequences.

45 posted on 07/19/2023 5:52:47 AM PDT by 17th Miss Regt ( )
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To: twister881
In Korea, while I was there anyways (1995-1998) was a different animal.

Service members on embassy assignments (Attaches, and JUSMAGK) actually were non-SOFA and fell under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). Essentially they had diplomatic immunity, but of course were still subject to the UCMJ.

As Military Police we had good working relations with the Korean National Police (KNP) and any time we did town patrols, we did them in coordination with the KNP. As a general rule, ROKs would/could assert their jurisdiction for any offenses that would occur off post; however, when it came to GIs fighting each other or just being drunk/disorderly, etc. they were more than happy to let the military handle it, but anytime there was a Korean victim, they would pretty much insist on asserting jurisdiction, which they were within their rights to do.

I was there during the incident and aftermath with SGT Frank Golinar, who was actually an MP in my battalion. In short, SGT Golinar had a Korean wife. They had been at an off-post party with some other GIs and were taking the Seoul subway back home. SGT Golinar and his wife were doing some lovey-kissy stuff on the subway and a drunk Korean became incensed and started a brawl. This case became something of an international incident between the two countries and even though SGT Golinar was returned to post and resumed his military duties, he was placed on international hold for a couple years until his case was resolved in the Korean courts.

Had he been found guilty in a ROK court, he would have served his time in Cheonan.

46 posted on 07/19/2023 5:59:01 AM PDT by Joe 6-pack
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To: Jaysin

excellent!!
With the Griner Fitness Center.


47 posted on 07/19/2023 6:37:57 AM PDT by ronniesgal (friends don't let friends be Kardashians)
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To: montanajoe
The E-2 is pretty much automatic for any armed service enlisted member after six months. Many get it before even going to boot camp.

After two years, most enlisted are E-3 or E-4(NCO). This one likely got busted down a stripe or two in UCMJ (we called it "Office Hours" back in the day). In the old Marine Corps, these perpetual privates were known as s*birds.

Anyway, he may think he was getting away from his problems by defecting to N. Korea but in fact, his problems have only just begun. This will not end well for him.

48 posted on 07/19/2023 6:49:33 AM PDT by SamAdams76 (5,301,904 Truth | 86,921,174 Twitter)
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To: thegagline

49 posted on 07/19/2023 7:27:57 AM PDT by Magnum44 (...against all enemies, foreign and domestic... )
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To: Joe 6-pack

This was my understanding as well (2012-15). PV2 Knucklehead’s whole world gonna change now... I can’t imagine why his unit wasn’t tasked to escort him to Bliss.


50 posted on 07/19/2023 7:38:15 AM PDT by Thunder 6 (Panzer raus!)
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To: thegagline

Looking at the Korean map recently for another purpose, I surprised how close Seoul is the the North Korean border. It is about 30 miles. I just looked up on the map the distance from the airport at Incheon to Panmunjom (where Korean War armistice was signed) is about the same, but via a more circuitous route. I suspect getting out of the airport would have been pretty simple as getting on a local bus to Seoul and from there to Panmunjom.

The northern suburbs of Seoul are on the border of North Korea. Part of the line runs along the Han River as it discharges out to the sea.


51 posted on 07/19/2023 8:55:02 AM PDT by Steven Scharf
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To: SamAdams76
"This one likely got busted down a stripe or two in UCMJ (we called it "Office Hours" back in the day). In the old Marine Corps, these perpetual privates were known as s*birds."

In ROTC, OBC and my platoon leader time, the conventional wisdom was, "You spend 90% of your time with 10% of your soldiers." I refused to buy into that. My philosophy as a leader was to reinforce success and make sure I was there for the soldiers, NCOs and junior officers who were committed to doing things right, so when I got my company command, I committed to taking care of all my Article 15s after evening chow. The good troops were off for the day, and the sh!tbirds had all day to think about what waited for them that evening. My platoon leaders and NCOs called it, "Night Court" :-)

52 posted on 07/19/2023 9:03:28 AM PDT by Joe 6-pack
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To: thegagline

Picture looks odd. The troops haven’t worn that uniform (BDU) for almost 20 years. How can that be if Pvt King is only 23?


53 posted on 07/19/2023 10:24:43 AM PDT by damper99
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To: damper99
Those aren't BDUs. They're the new(ish) Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP), which, in a blurry photo have some similarity to BDU woodland.
54 posted on 07/19/2023 10:29:02 AM PDT by Joe 6-pack
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To: SamAdams76

Things may or may not have changed since the days when Jenkins and the other GI’s were in Korean custody, but i recall jenkins saying they were forced to memorize north korean pledges etc.. in korean. Beatings if not done correctly. I highly doubt theres an ebonical dialect of korean.

All i can say is that he gonna earn his street cred if he makes it out alive.


55 posted on 07/19/2023 12:08:39 PM PDT by Jaysin (Trump can’t be beat, unless the democrats cheat)
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To: twister881

In 1977 I was the USMC observer at the Okinawan trial of a Marine corporal who, while drunk, had “rolled “ an Okinawa drunk.

IIRC, he received a two year sentence.

We Marines bring our dead and wounded back from the battlefield. As for idiots who disgrace both their uniform and their country...

“Play stupid games, win stupid prizes!”


56 posted on 07/19/2023 12:47:39 PM PDT by BwanaNdege
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To: thegagline

If Biden were wise, he’d ask Trump to negotiate this guy and any other prisoners freedom since Trump has a special relationship with Kim.


57 posted on 07/19/2023 1:56:43 PM PDT by joesbucks (It’s called love-bombing. Claiming he’s saving the world. This is a cult. Just back away. )
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To: piasa

Yeah, sounds like a real mess.


58 posted on 07/19/2023 2:24:50 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (I pledge allegiance to the flag of the USofA & to the Constitutional REPUBLIC for which it stands.)
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To: DoughtyOne

Blacks, as an oppressed minority, can’t be racist, so there’s nothing to see here. Pls move along...

Police placed Pvt. Travis King in the backseat of their patrol car where he shouted expletives and insults against Koreans, the Korean army, and the Korean police, the ruling said.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/us-soldier-got-fights-damaged-police-car-before-dash-north-korea-court-docs-2023-07-19/


59 posted on 07/23/2023 11:12:05 AM PDT by Texan4Life
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To: thegagline

I move to send not Dennis Rodman, but Brittney Griner, to North Korea, to negotiate Travis King’s release.


60 posted on 07/23/2023 11:30:31 AM PDT by Texan4Life
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