House Foreign Affairs chief fears N. Korea will try to ‘exact a price’ on US soldier who fled
The head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said Sunday he fears North Korea will try to “exact a price’’ over suspected US Army defector Travis King.
“I’m sure that he’s not being treated very well. I think it was a serious mistake on his part, and I hope we can get him back,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said of the 23-year-old calvary scout on ABC’s “This Week.”
“I think he was running from his problems,” McCaul said of King, an army private 2nd Class from Wisconsin.
The North Koreans may now try to capitalize on the apparent defection, McCaul said.
“We see this with Russia, China, Iran: When they take an American, particularly a soldier, captive, they exact a price for that. And that’s what I worry about,” the congressman said.
King crossed the demilitarized zone Tuesday while facing disciplining proceedings for an assault case in Seoul, South Korea.
“He was facing disciplinary charges and was gonna get a flight back to the United States. But instead, he did not board the plane, went with a tour group to the DMZ [demilitarized zone along the North-South Korea border] and then ran across the line,” McCaul said.
Rep. Michael McCaul says he is concerned for apparent Army defector Travis King’s safety in North Korea. Getty Images
King (circled) stands with a group of tourists near a border station in Paju, South Korea, on July 18, 2023. REUTERS
“That’s something you just don’t do,” the House member said.
King had been detained for the assault case and also reportedly damaged a South Korean police vehicle.
He crossed the DMZ “willfully and without authorization,” according to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
King, 23, was facing disciplinary proceedings before his apparent defection. AP
ABC show moderator Martha Raddatz took note of the fraught relations between the US and the pariah state at the time, including North Korea’s recent cruise-missile firing spree Saturday.
Those launches came as North Korea has publicly grumbled about a US nuclear submarine that docked in South Korea.
“It’s a projection of strength that we need right now to deter aggression,” McCaul said of the sub docking. “We’re seeing a very aggressive — not only North Korea and the rockets fired in the Sea of Japan — but also the aggression we see from China [regarding Taiwan].
King is an army calvary scout. VIA REUTERS
“North Korea needs to know that we’re there, that we have superiority with the nuclear subs. We need to get in their head and [Chinese] Chairman Xi [Jinping]’s head that if they do anything that’s aggressive militarily, there will be consequences to that,” McCaul said.
Source: New York Post
