The United States still has no word on Private Travis T. King, 23, who made a tourist visit to the Joint Security Area (JSA) in the heart of the border between the two Koreas last Tuesday.

King crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) on Tuesday and entered North Korean territory. From there, all that is known is that he remains detained in that country.

It was learned he also spent 48 days in a prison workshop in South Korea for failing to pay a fine for kicking and damaging a police car last February.

The soldier ended up spending 48 days, from May 24 to July 10, being committed to a Cheonan prison 53 miles south of Seoul, and then sent to a US base in South Korea, where he was held for a week.

King had joined the army in January 2021.

US media have reported that as a disciplinary measure over allegations of assault, the military decided to return him to his country and that King allegedly fled from Incheon International Airport, which serves Seoul, on Monday, where he was scheduled to take a flight to Dallas.

After being approached by the media, King’s mother asked her son to return to the country. “I just want my son back. Take my son home. Take my son home and pray he comes back,” he said.

The United States had already warned its citizens not to travel to North Korea because of the serious risk of wrongful arrest and detention.

King, being a low-ranking soldier, does not have a high regard for North Korean propaganda and could be released for this reason. North Korea does not respond to US contact attempts.