What North Korea may do with Travis King, the first U.S. soldier in decades to flee into its territory
in the 1960s, were treated as propaganda assets, showcased in leaflets and films projecting anti-U.S. hatred and praising the North’s regime.
But Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in South Korea, says it’s highly unlikely North Korea would pass up the propaganda value of a U.S. soldier who voluntarily entered the country. While King’s immediate value would be propaganda, Pyongyang could seek opportunities to use him as a bargaining chip to wrest concessions from Washington, he said.
Thae Yong Ho, a former diplomat at the North Korean Embassy in London who defected to South Korea in 2016 and is now a lawmaker, said North Korea has never released any U.S. soldier who walked into the country voluntarily. But it’s also unclear whether North Korea would want to hold King for long, considering the likely low level of U.S. military intelligence he would provide considering his rank and the high costs of managing his life in the North.
Park Won Gon, a professor at Seoul’s Ewha University, said the currently high tensions between Washington and Pyongyang would complicate diplomatic efforts to bring King home.During cozier times with the United States, North Korea released U.S. detainees rather swiftly and easily.
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