Report: US Declines to Invoke POW Status for Soldier in North Korean Custody

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Facts

  • Reuters reported Friday, citing four anonymous American officials, that the US has so far declined to declare 23-year-old Army Private Travis King a prisoner of war (POW) as he continues to be held in North Korea after crossing into the country last month.1
  • A cavalry scout with the Korean Rotational Force, Private King was due to fly to Fort Bliss, Texas, to face disciplinary action after spending weeks in a South Korean prison but skipped his military escort and made his way north on July 18.2
  • Though willingly crossing the guarded border in civilian attire during a tour of the demilitarized zone, the active-duty soldier could qualify as a POW given that the Korean War never technically ended, with an armistice rather than a peace treaty signed in 1953.3
  • King is still AWOL, or absent without leave, a formal status that automatically triggers a declaration of desertion after 30 days. Yet, a Pentagon spokesperson stated that the priority is to bring King home.4
  • The US can classify the Army private as a prisoner of war at a later time, affording him protections under the Third Geneva Convention, to which both the US and North Korea are signatories.5
  • The UN Command, which polices the Korean Demilitarized Zone, stated Thursday that the North Korean Army had confirmed custody of Travis King in its first response to requests for information on the soldier's whereabouts.6

Sources: 1Reuters, 2New York Post, 3The Hill, 4Independent, 5FOX News, and 6BBC News.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by CNN. No final decision has been made regarding the status of Travis King yet, as the Biden admin. still weighs whether to declare him a POW, given the low probability that Pyongyang would acknowledge such status as he was neither forced into the country nor captured by their forces. Additionally, this declaration could have severe implications by potentially signaling that the US views the conflict as active.
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Military. Given that even his family has been kept in the dark, not receiving any official information since a call to notify them of the incident, it's clear that Travis King has been completely abandoned by the Pentagon. The plot thickens as the Army remains silent over the fact that some ominous messages he sent throughout his time in South Korea were received while he was allegedly in prison doing hard work.

Predictions