20-07-2023, 02:41 PM
How bizarre. He was due to head back to Texas after serving two months in a south Korean prison & may have faced further punishment & discharge from the army.
Out of the frying pan into the fire, perhaps...
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/300931243/...-was-stunt
Out of the frying pan into the fire, perhaps...
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/300931243/...-was-stunt
"Sarah Leslie thought she was witnessing a stunt when she saw an American soldier start sprinting towards North Korea.
Leslie and her father, tourists from New Zealand, were part of a group that left Tuesday morning from Seoul to visit the Demilitarised Zone that divides South and North Korea.
Private 2nd Class Travis King was among the group of 43 tourists, Leslie told The Associated Press, although he was casually dressed in jeans and a T-shirt and she had no idea at the time that he was a soldier, or in legal trouble.
The tour was nearing its end Tuesday afternoon – the group had just walked out of the building and were milling about taking photos – when she saw King running “really fast.”
“I assumed initially he had a mate filming him in some kind of really stupid prank or stunt, like a TikTok, the most stupid thing you could do,” Leslie said. “But then I heard one of the soldiers shout, ‘Get that guy.’"
Leslie said the command was shouted by an American soldier, one of a group that patrols the area along with South Korean troops.
But the soldiers didn't have time to respond. She said that after running about 10 meters (30 feet) down a narrow passageway between the distinctive blue buildings, King was over the border and then disappeared from sight. It was all over in a few seconds.
She said she found it hard to understand why King would head to North Korea.
“I just didn’t think anyone would ever want to do that,” she said."