*The mother of Private Travis T. King, who defected to North Korea on Tuesday, wants President Biden to bring him home.
“I just want my son back. Get my son home. Get my son home, and pray. Pray that he comes back,” Claudine Gates told a local reporter on Wednesday.
We reported previously via CNN that King’s whereabouts remain a mystery because North Korea has been silent about his defection.
CNN writes, “Court documents showed that Private King believed to be the first US soldier to cross into North Korea since 1982, had a history of assault, was facing disciplinary action over his conduct and was meant to go back to the US the day before the incident. An army official told CNN the private was set to be administratively separated from the US Army.”
During a civilian tour of a border area, King crossed the demarcation line, SandarRose.com reports. He made his way across the border days after his release from a South Korean prison on July 10.
Travis King’s uncle, Myron Gates, said King started acting recklessly when his 6-year-old cousin (Gates’s son) died in February.
“He’s still grieving, and that had a lot to do with what he did,” Gates told NBC News.
“When my son was on life support, and when my son passed away … Travis started [acting] reckless [and] crazy when he knew my son was about to die,”
Gate told the Daily Beast, “It seemed like he was breaking down. It affected Travis a lot. Because he couldn’t be here. He was in the Army, overseas.”
Here’s more from SandarRose.com:
King spent 48 days in a South Korean prison for fighting with locals, ABC affiliate WISN reported. He was also investigated last year for punching a Korean national and for property damage.
King was scheduled to return to Fort Bliss, Texas, on Tuesday to face potential discharge from the Army when he left the airport and fled across the border into N. Korea.
U.S. officials are reportedly “working very hard” to get information on King’s status in North Korea.
North Korea’s state media has not reported on the incident.
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