North Korean Prisoner Travis King, Now in US Hands, Expected to Land at Texas Base

Army Pvt. Travis King is heading for a military hospital in Texas as his first stop in the U.S. after 71 days in North Korean custody, the Associated Press reported. 

King will be taken to the Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston in Texas, AP said, citing an unnamed U.S. official. He is expected to arrive overnight Wednesday. 

The 23-year-old cavalry scout, who had served in South Korea, sprinted across the border while on a civilian tour of the demilitarized zone between the two countries on July 18, sparking a diplomatic crisis. 

A senior U.S. official said Wednesday that King was en route home “in good health and good spirits.”

Brooke Army Medical Center “serves as the largest and most robust military healthcare organization within the Department of Defense,” according to its website. The facility has a staff of 8,500 and boasts a Level-1 trauma center.

North Korea claimed King had defected over “inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination in the US army.” 

King was supposed to be heading to Fort Bliss, Texas, following his release from prison in South Korea on an assault conviction when he ditched the airport and joined a tour of the border—setting the stage for ten weeks of diplomacy and drama.