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American soldier pretends to be a tourist before escaping into North Korea [1]
['Carla Sinclair']
Date: 2023-07-18
Without warning, an American soldier at a South Korean airport inexplicably fled and ran across the border into North Korea, where he is now being detained. Although his motives aren't exactly clear, Private 2nd Class Travis King was about to board a flight back to the United States for disciplinary reasons when he made his move.
According to CBS, King had already made it through airport security when he folded himself into a border tour group, blending in with the tourists as they made their way to the the Military Demarcation Line at Panmunjom. But it wasn't long before King suddenly took off, laughing out loud as he ran between buildings, managing to cross the North Korean border at 3:27 p.m. local time.
The witness said military personnel reacted within seconds to the man's actions, but at first, there was confusion.
"I thought it was a bad joke at first," one witness said. "But when he didn't come back, I realized it wasn't a joke, and then everybody reacted and things got crazy."
From CBS:
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