From being used as a propaganda tool to being propped up as a potential bargaining chip, the guesses about North Korea's next steps vary widely given there's little precedent for King's situation, experts and former diplomats say.
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SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Army Private Travis T. King had finished serving nearly two months in detention in South Korea and was being escorted to the airport to fly home and likely face disciplinary action. Instead, roughly 24 hours later, he sprinted into North Korea while on a civilian tour of the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on the border between the two Koreas. So began a bizarre odyssey that landed an active-duty American soldier in North Korean hands and created a fre
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea is likely to milk the border crossing by a U.S. soldier for propaganda purposes but will probably not be able to gain political leverage, analysts and a former North Korean diplomat said.
"In their daily lives, they couldn't go out for shopping in downtown Pyongyang by themselves, let alone travel abroad," Tae said of other US soldiers who defected decades ago.