U.S. soldier Travis King spent 48 days in prison in South Korea before bolting across border to North Korea, a South Korean government official says.
, 23, spent 48 days in a prison in Cheonan, a city about 50 miles south of the South Korean capital, Seoul, after he failed to pay a $4,000 fine on charges that included damaging public property, a South Korean government official told NBC News by phone on Thursday.
Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth said on Wednesday that U.S. officials had reached out to North Korean officials about King but received no reply. “Not very much is known about his status,” said Wormuth, speaking at the Aspen Security Forum. “I don’t think we have successfully made contact with the North Korean authorities.”
Asked if King had shown signs of sympathizing with the North Korean government, Wormuth replied,"I don't think we have any information that points to that clearly." The U.S. has not yet received a response from Pyongyang, she said, meaning there are no updates on King’s condition or avenues to retrieve him.
An airport official told NBC News on Thursday that King went to his gate but was missing a travel document needed to board the plane and was escorted out by an American Airlines employee. King’s relatives told NBC News on Wednesday that he had been grieving the death of his young cousin and acting unlike himself.
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