King ran into the North from South Korea during a tour of the joint security area that separates the two Koreas. It is one of the most heavily fortified borders in the world and divides the Korean Peninsula roughly in half along the cease-fire line between the two nations that has existed since the end of the Korean War in 1953. The Pentagon said in July that King crossed into the North "willfully and without authorization."
King, 23, has connections to Wisconsin. His mother lives in Racine.
Jonathan Franks, a spokesperson for King’s mother, said Claudine Gates will be “forever grateful to the United States Army and all its interagency partners for a job well done.”
“For the foreseeable future, the family asks for privacy, and Ms. Gates does not intend to give any interviews,” Franks said in a statement.
When he crossed into the North he was a cavalry scout with the 1st Armored Division who had just served a 47-day sentence in a South Korean prison for assault, after he allegedly kicked a South Korean squad car and demaged it, USA TODAY previously reported. He entered the North as he was about to be sent home to Fort Bliss, Texas, where he could have faced additional military discipline and discharge from the service.
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