US soldier believed to be detained by North Korea after 'willfully' crossing border

The US Army has identified a soldier who crossed the demarcation line into North Korea as Pvt. Travis King, a cavalry scout who joined the military in January 2021.

King was set to be administratively separated from the US Army after facing disciplinary action for assault, an Army official tells CNN.

King had been on a Joint Security Area (JSA) tour as a civilian when he crossed into North Korea. US Forces Korea spokesperson Col. Isaac Taylor said on Tuesday that a US soldier "willfully and without authorization" crossed the line during a JSA tour.

"We believe he is currently in [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] custody and are working with our [Korean People's Army] counterparts to resolve this incident," Taylor said in a statement.

There was no indication that King was trying to defect, a separate US official said.

Both the Army and defense officials told CNN that King was punished while in South Korea following the assault, but it's unclear if that was carried out by US or South Korean officials.

A defense official told CNN that King was escorted to the airport to come back to the US, but because the escorts could not go through customs with him, he was able to leave the airport afterwards. At the time of his rotation in South Korea, King was assigned to the 6th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division out of Fort Bliss, Texas, according to Army spokesperson Bryce Dubee.